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by Ranowa Hikura
Summary: Six elite Konoha ninja are killed on a classified mission. Their teams stumble upon the trail left for them and quickly learn that not all is as it seems, and investigate. They are soon faced with a question- their precious people, or Konoha? Light KakaIru, AsuKure, and GenRai, but romance is not the focus of this fic.
1. Chapter 1

Finally posted my first hopefully epic Naruto multchapter fic. Light Genma/Raidou, Kakairu, Asuma/Kurenai, though romance is not the focus of the fic. Takes place when Kakashi and Tenzo were training Naruto for Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken. The whole Hidan and Kakuzu thing hasn't happened yet. Also, please note that Sasori is alive. Sakura and Chiyo still fought him during the Recovery of the Kazekage arc, but he didn't die, and Konoha knows this. Becomes important oh, I don't know, about 70,000 words from now. (Yes, I have written this out that far).

Enough of that. Enjoy!

* * *

"Naruto, get up."

Naruto blinked tiredly at his pillow and opted to stay right where he was. He felt a rather large hand come to rest on his shoulder and didn't bother to push it off; either the visitor would get the hint and leave him alone or he wouldn't. There was nothing, Naruto reasoned, that he could do about it.

"You've been in bed long enough."

Three days in bed was probably an obscenely long time to stay in bed- Naruto agreed. But he just lacked the energy to do anything more than stare at the wall and remember. What was the point of getting up, anyway?

"The funeral was yesterday. Take that black off, sit up, and come out. I brought two things of ramen over, and I don't want to eat them alone."

Yes, the sham of the funeral it had been. A ceremony at the memorial stone where their esteemed Hokage had carved six names into the stone; that was it. There hadn't even been any bodies to bury. What kind of funeral was that? Even Sandaime had left behind a body to bury. There was no place to go and visit; just a rock covered in scores of names of ninja who had died as heroes to Konoha. Being in front of such a sight was frightening and depressing, and now, something he would have to face every time he wanted to visit with one of his precious people.

"Naruto, you need to get up. You're upset, but that doesn't mean it's right for you to just lie around and forget what's important."

Just one more day, one more day of thinking and remembering and he would get up…

Naruto blinked and found himself staring at Team Seven's photograph. It was a team that had brought him just as much heartbreak as joy, and still a team he would do anything for.

For so long, the face he'd focused on in that frame had been Sasuke's. Lost in the dark as his friend was, this was all he had left that was tangible and proved to all the world that Sasuke was someone worth saving. But now, Naruto found his eyes traveling from that pale face to the hand resting firmly against dark hair, up the arm, and then finally coming to the smiling face that it now hurt to look at.

Team Seven had been broken for a long time. One third of what Naruto had loved so much, of what given him everything he had ever wanted, was missing. Away in a dangerous place getting lost further in his own pain and hate. But as long as Sasuke was alive, there had hope that Naruto could get him back again, get him to come home and Team Seven would be together again.

But now stupid, stupid Kakashi had gone and shattered it. He was dead and their team had broken into something irreparable. Even if Sasuke came back, Team Seven could never be together again.

Naruto frowned, glancing momentarily at the mask that turned the smile into nothing but a painfully familiar eye crinkle. It struck him that he had never even seen Kakashi smile when he could watch his whole face do it, not just his eye. And then Naruto had to wonder... he had known and looked up to Kakashi for over three years, and he didn't even know that the man _looked _like. Gods. How could he claim to know him at all?

"It's not fair," he whispered, glaring at the cloth and the man who wore it.

"Huh? Since when did I teach you that being a ninja was fair?"

Naruto shook his head slightly, reaching out to finger the photograph. "…We knew nothing about him. Nothing at all. Not where he got his Sharingan from, not what's under his mask… not even why he wears it. He knew everything about us and we don't know the first thing about him. We didn't even know him."

The hand on his shoulder shifted a bit, and then Jiraiya sighed heavily. It was quiet for a moment before he cleared his throat and spoke. "Tell me, Naruto. What was Kakashi's least favorite food?"

"...Tempura. But why-"

"What was his favorite?"

Naruto frowned in confusion. "Eggplant. Ero-se-"

"When he's tired, what does he do?"

"Hide it. He'll pretend he's fine until he passes out from exhaustion. Ero-sennin, what does this have to do with-"

Jiraiya pressed on, ignoring Naruto's questions. "What does he like for birthday presents?"

"We could never figure it out. I think the only present we ever gave him that he genuinely liked was Mr. Ukki. Sakura-chan baked him some cookies once, but he gave them all to Iruka-sensei... said he didn't like sweet things." Naruto seemed to have given up on finding out his purpose and was just answering him now, tired gaze never once leaving the precious photograph.

"What did Kakashi do when he was upset on a mission?"

"He wouldn't show it till later," Naruto answered without hesitation, but his voice still sounded a bit dead. "Then he would want to be alone. He would be gruff and ignore us."

"What about when he was in Konoha?"

"Go to the memorial stone."

Jiraiya nodded. "Uhuh. What about when something was troubling him?"

Naruto shrugged. "He'd put his hand over his Sharingan. Like this."

"What makes him smile?"

"Us." Naruto's voice trembled a little bit but he forged on, regardless. "Whenever we learned a jutsu or beat an enemy by ourselves, or even with him, he'd smile and seem proud of us. Or whenever we worked together as a team; he really like that. Or when Sasuke-teme and I would argue, or we'd do something silly or stupid- things I guess teams do together. He always smiled when we did that."

"And what did he think was the most important thing in the world?"

Naruto never once paused in his answers, voice steady, if pained. "His friends. His friends and his team. He'd do anything for them… us."

Jiraiya patted his shoulder lightly. "Aah. Seems like you knew him pretty well."

Naruto fell silent. His lower lip trembled and he bit down on it, hard.

"You see, Naruto, you could know where Kakashi got his Sharingan from, you could know why he wore the mask, but that wouldn't mean you actually _knew_ him. All those things you just told me about him; that means you knew him."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat and closed his eyes tightly.

"For a long time, Kakashi didn't _have_ anyone who knew him like you and Sakura do. If it weren't for you guys, he probably never would've grown from what happened to him when he was younger. You guys really helped him. And I know he'd be happy to see how well you understood him, even without knowing anything about his past."

Naruto opened his eyes again to stare at the picture. He hoped Jiraiya was right; he hoped Kakashi would've been happy. But, somehow, that didn't come close to easing the pain in his chest.

"Now, how about you stand up and come eat this ramen with me?"

Naruto paused, and then, oh so slowly, he sat up. His muscles were sore after lying in bed so long and when he stood up, he got a head rush. Jiraiya simply steadied him with one broad hand and led him forward. The Toad Sage didn't say a thing as they walked towards his microwave, stepping over spare glaringly orange jackets and food wrappers as they went. Jiraiya set about heating the instant ramen he had brought over, and they were silent while they waited. Naruto didn't want to talk, and Jiraiya followed his lead.

Finally, when Naruto was grudgingly raising a few noodles to his mouth, Jiraiya looked at his student and spoke. "Naruto, I miss Kakashi, too. But he wouldn't have been happy with me if I just lay around my house and gave up. Just like he wouldn't be happy with you for doing the same. He really did love you, and he wanted you to be happy."

Naruto faltered in his eating, staring down at his ramen with stinging eyes. He heard Jiraiya start up again on his ramen and had to swallow the lump in his throat before he looked up at his master with a watery smile.

"Thanks, Ero-sennin."

* * *

Iruka had never expected it to actually happen.

Never believed it could.

Sure, the man accepted many missions that were nothing short of suicide, but he always dragged himself back, well and truly alive. Always alive. Always, _always_ promising to come back alive.

Perhaps, on some level, when he had refused to make any such promise this time, Iruka had known that he wasn't coming back.

Still, he had never believed that he would get the Hokage's messenger at his door, wearing a somber expression and the holding a muddy chain of dog tags and a plain scroll. Never believed that he would have to hear those words.

_Hatake Kakashi has been killed in action._

Kakashi had told him it was a suicide mission. A _team_ suicide mission. And Iruka hadn't really believed that Kakashi would die, not with a team there by his side; his lover would go to the ends of the earth for his team. He would move mountains them, and Iruka knew Kakashi would never die while he still had a team to keep safe.

But Kakashi and his team had died.

All he had was a muddy set of dog tags and one short letter.

The letter that all elite shinobi wrote, in case they went on a mission and never came back. A final goodbye.

Iruka had never wanted to read Kakashi's.

_Iruka-_

_If you're reading this, then that means I've been killed in action. It feels strange to write this, but I suppose it'll happen one day, probably after this mission- and now, I finally have someone who I want to say goodbye to. So, I suppose that this it- goodbye. _

_Don't do what I did. Don't mope about and take years to find anyone else to care about. You have too much to offer and besides, I don't like seeing you sad. Be happy without me. Okay? I know you can be really stubborn when you want to be, but do it for me. I'm dead, or will be when you read this, anyway. I'm happy and with all the people that died before me. So, I want you to be happy, too._

_I know you'll be disappointed this is so short, but I don't have anything else to write. You already know all my secrets. Oh, I remembered- you can show Naruto and Sakura that picture of us last winter. The one without my mask. I did intend to show them some day, but I suppose I waited too long to do that. They always did want to know. _

_I should probably write something to them, too. But I don't know what to tell them. You were always good at that sort of emotional thing, not me. Hmm… can you tell them that, despite all appearances, I did trust them and really cared about them. I don't really have anything to say to them but I hope they realize at least that. They have new masters who can teach them all the things that Gai and the others are writing to their students. ..Naruto, Sakura, I would've told you two anything you wanted to know about me someday; I know you were curious. I did trust you and cared about you. I guess I just waited too long. _

_You'll always be my Ruru, Iruka. I'm waiting for you on the other side, but I don't want to see you for a long, long time. Until then, Ruru._

_Love, Kakashi _

_P.S.- don't forget to feed my dogs. They like to say they can take care of themselves, but they really can't. _

It was a wonder the thing wasn't illegible, given how many tears Iruka had already cried over it. He slept with it every night, clutched tightly in one hand with Kakashi's dog tags around his own neck. He'd tried to leave it alone, perfectly untouched; it was all he had left of Kakashi, after all, and he didn't like tainting it with his tears and wrinkling it in his fist.

But he couldn't sleep without holding Kakashi, or Kakashi holding him, and Kakashi wasn't there anymore.

Iruka shifted, and the cool chain around his neck clinked. He reached up to hold the tiny tag in his fist, tracing the worn kanji characters with his thumb. He shifted onto his side, on Kakashi's side of the bed, and felt the familiar wetness of a tear sliding over the bridge of his nose, following the scar to fall onto the blanket.

Kakashi's body hadn't even come back. Tsunade hadn't been specific; burned beyond recognition, crushed too deep in a cave in to ever be recovered, hacked up into tiny little pieces and scattered all over the country- every possibility was worse than the last, and all turned his stomach. He was somewhat glad that the Hokage refused to tell him, but he hated it that there was nothing to bury at Kakashi's funeral. He'd done enough for the village. Didn't he at least deserve to be buried there?

More than anyone, Iruka thought.

"I'll always be your Ruru. You said that. And I told you you'd always be my Kashi. Kashi and Ruru. I don't want to be just Ruru. I want to go back to being KakashiandIruka again. Now, I'm just Iruka." He squeezed the dog tag so tightly it hurt, and another tear dropped onto the bedspread.

Four days. Four long days since his nervous, near terrified constant demeanor had all been shattered by one visit from that messenger. Iruka hadn't left his house since then, not except for the funeral. It took him hours just to get out of bed, and, yesterday, he hadn't. No one had come for him yet, and he hoped it remained that way. Iruka would be perfectly content to remain in this bed forever, with Kakashi's letter in one hand and dog tags in the other. He never wanted move or see anyone who wasn't his Kashi again.

Someday, he would summon Pakkun and the other dogs and feed them, just like Kakashi had asked. But Iruka couldn't just yet. If he did, it meant Kakashi really wasn't coming home. And Iruka just couldn't believe that yet. Surely, he was just late- really, really late. Surely, he would jump up and appear in the window, with a tired smile and an eye crinkle. And then Iruka would get to run over to him and chastise him for being so late and getting himself Chakra exhausted, _again_, then take him and tuck him into bed and lie with his arms around him, around his Kashi, never letting him go again-

Iruka's hopeful image was shattered by the sound of a sob. It took him a moment to realize it was his own.

Kakashi had given twenty-four years of his twenty-nine year long life to Konoha. Most shinobi didn't give more than fifteen years of service before being worn out, either retiring as a broken shell of a man or coming back in a pine box. Most didn't do over ten S-ranks before bodies, or their minds, or both, gave out on them, most didn't renter the field after they'd been tortured for their third time, most didn't sign up for their three hundred and first A-rank after completing their three hundredth.

Kakashi had exceeded all those expectations and then some. But Iruka didn't love the elite Copy Ninja. He loved his Kakashi. He didn't find his solid bravery and infallible courage attractive; it worried him. He didn't swoon at his all too real vow to lay his life down his teammates if necessary; it scared the hell out of him. He just wanted his Kakashi home, by his side, and not in danger or pain. And Iruka had been going to speak to Kakashi; honestly, he had, he had been going to ask Kakashi to retire. Or maybe just stay in the village and teach, like he did- something that wasn't scary, something that didn't leave Iruka curled up in their bed alone far too often with nothing but the memory of an eye crinkle and a solemn, _I'll come back home, I promise _to comfort him.

If only he had spoken up before this mission.

"Iruka-sensei."

Iruka frowned at the intrusive voice. He wanted to be left alone. Was that too much to ask? He clutched the metal tag tighter and buried himself in the blankets. A hand came to rest on his shoulder; he shrugged it off.

"Iruka-sensei, come on… you have to get out of bed."

Iruka closed his eyes.

…

"iruka-sensei, I brought ramen."

Iruka stroked Kakashi's name. Ramen? Why ramen? What was that supposed to accomplish? He wasn't hungry. He wasn't hungry and even the smell of food would surely nauseate him.

"Come on, you have to eat. You look thin. When was the last time you ate?"

Before the Hokage's messenger had come for him. Before he was given this cold set of dog tags and a letter, like that was supposed to mean anything. Before he'd threatened to kill Tsunade and thrown himself across her desk, kunai at the ready, screaming at her for sending Kakashi to die.

_It was a suicide mission! How could you send him out there when you knew he would die?! You fucking old hag, you killed him! _

"Iruka-sensei!"

Kakashi…

"Iruka-sensei, come on. I'm sad, too, but I'm not moping and lying around and letting it consume me!"

Iruka cleared his throat, his eyes still closed, finally muttered a response into the pillow, his voice low and hoarse with disuse. "Leave me alone, Naruto. Talk to Jiraiya if you need to talk to someone, but not me. Not today."

"I don't need someone to talk to, _you're_ the one who needs to talk to someone!"

"Leave me alone."

"Iruka-sensei, look at me!" Clearly not trusting him to do it himself, the hand returned to his shoulder and pulled him roughly onto his back, and Iruka had no will to do anything but admit defeat. He opened his eyes and did as Naruto had asked.

The blond looked just as exhausted and sad as Iruka was sure he himself did. His blond hair was a complete mess, the spiky mop tangled and disheveled. Usually bright and happy blue eyes were rimmed in red and wet, and tears were still trickling slowly down his cheeks. He stared down at Iruka in a mixture of desperation and sorrow.

"…Come on. The ramen's in the microwave."

Iruka cleared his throat again and shifted, slipping further under the blankets. "Naruto, I'm not-"

"Yeah, yeah, you're not hungry. Still, do it. For me." He smiled hopefully, and seeing that expression overlaid on top of complete sadness and devastation was painful. "Please, Sensei?"

Iruka hesitated. His blankets were soft and warm and suspiciously comfortable, and he did not have the energy to move. He simply didn't.

"Please?"

But Naruto's voice was so sad, and seeing the usually sunny blond depressed was just making him want to cry. Well, considering he'd been crying for the past hour, it was making it harder for him to stop. So he allowed Naruto to pull him upright and lead him out of his bedroom, arm firmly around his waist. The blond took him to his tiny kitchen, where, true to his word, the ramen was already heating up in the microwave. There was a cup on the table that had already been heated up, and Naruto pushed Iruka down into a chair and pointed at it in a silent order to eat.

Iruka just looked at it instead. Together, they waited in an awkward silence for Naruto's ramen to be finished, and Iruka listened as his microwave beeped, and Naruto took his meal out, going through the short motions of preparing it.

He heard Naruto sit across from him and break his chopsticks, then pause. "…Iruka-sensei, I know you're not that hungry, but still try and eat. At least some. Please?"

Iruka made the slightest motion of his shoulders for a shrug.

"…Yesterday, I didn't want to eat, either. Ero-sennin came by. He made me some ramen and we ate it together. Then he told me that he missed Kaka-sensei, too. But he said he didn't think Kaka-sensei would like it to see me so sad; that he… that Sensei had really liked me and would've wanted to see me happy."

Next moment, Iruka felt a hand come to rest on his wrist and squeeze.

"And, Kaka-sensei didn't tell us much about his private life, but if I know anything about him, I know that he really loved you."

Iruka's vision blurred. Another tear slipped down his cheek.

"So… I know it sucks right now, but, we're here for you, all right? But you can't just lay in bed and give up. Sensei would never forgive me if I let you do that. Heck, I could never forgive _myself_ if I let you do that. So, the first step is eating some ramen with me. Please? If not for yourself, then for me."

Iruka remained still for one long moment.

Then he broke his chopsticks, and in a tiny, shaking voice whispered, "Itadakimasu."

Naruto released his wrist and went back to his own meal. "Itadakimasu."

They ate in silence for a minute, Iruka lifting noodles with his chopsticks and swallowing them, not really tasting them. Iruka eventually paused, one tan chopstick dangling limply into the broth. "…Naruto?"

"Yeah, Sensei?"

"…"

"It's okay, Iruka-sensei. I really miss him, too."

* * *

_My dearest student- _

_I am writing this letter against my will, Lee. Writing this letter means I believe I am going to die, and that means I've given up- which I have not! But the others on the mission all have told me I should, for my cute students' sakes- even my eternal rival disagrees! So, while I sincerely believe that you will never have to read this letter, for I will not die, this is a precautionary measure. _

_My dear Lee, you know me so well, surely you already know what I have to say. Reiterating it now, on paper, would be shameful! It would speak of a weak bond between us, that such things even have to be said. Nevertheless, I will write them, because you and the others deserve it. Tell Neji and Tenten the parts that pertain to them, because they are my students just as much as you._

_First, I want to say that, no matter how I died, I do not want you to seek revenge. You, or Neji, or Tenten. That is not necessary! I do not want you to waste your life on a foolhardy quest fueled by hate. I died for Konoha, and that is not shameful! That is all that is important. _

_Second, never give up on your dream. You already are a fine shinobi without the usage of ninjutsu! Your taijutsu will only improve with time and you have the ability to one day, become a jounin, and then ANBU! Never give up on your ninja way, even though I am not here to teach you._

_Third, though this is related to my second point, never give up to Neji! He is your eternal rival, just as Kakashi is mine! The day will come when the two of you are an equal match, and then, you are victorious over him. An equal match to a true genius such as Neji is the ultimate proof that you have become an excellent ninja. However, do not allow a victory over Neji to give you the excuse to fall into habits of being lazy and lax. That is the way of the those without youth! Instead, continue to train, to grow stronger, for there is always room for improvement!_

_Fourth, for the training you have not yet been able to complete- the training to open the sixth, seventh, and eighth gates. Return to the abandoned shack we stayed the night at in our mission in the Grass Country. There, you will find a safe. The combination is the date that you first opened the fifth gate on. Inside the safe is everything you need to know._

_Fifth, to Tenten. You have long surpassed many of your kind, both as a kunoichi and as a weapon's specialist. Train, Tenten- train, train, train, train! Train, and someday, you will become a jounin just like Neji- perhaps even Tenten-sensei, like me! Even though I was able to help Neji and Lee so much more than I could help you, I have still watched you blossom from a little girl into a fine young woman, and you have made me proud! Though, I do have a request- look after Lee and Neji for me! You always had the coolest mind, least swayed by emotion- please continue to ensure their safety in the future._

_Sixth, to Neji. I have little to say to you. You have come so far, just as Tenten and Lee, and I am just as proud of you as I am of them. You grew past your grudge against the Head branch and have helped little Hinata, you have grown to see my cute Lee as a rival and an equal, and are the first student I have ever taught to become jounin. You are a student worth being proud of! In my absence, leadership of Team Gai often seemed to gravitate to you, and I am sure this will continue now that I am not coming back. So, lead them well, Neji! Remember, if you rely on the power of youth, everything will be possible!_

_I suppose that is it, then. Lee, Tenten, Neji- remember, we are Team Gai! We are the team of youth! No matter what happens, remember that youth shall never fail you and that we were and are a team!_

_Ah, I'm getting emotional already! This is making me cry! I love all three of you. My death will make you stronger. _

_Love, Gai_

Lee was reasonably sure that punching the training log this much was not healthy. The fact that his knuckles were raw and bloody, and had been for an hour, seemed to support this fact.

"Lee… please. You have to stop this."

Lee ignored Tenten's soft pleading and continued his merciless assault on the log. "I must keep training!" he huffed in between blows, shaking her off when her hand came to rest hesitantly on his shoulder. "Gai-sensei told me too! Gai-sensei must see that we never stopped training in his absence!"

"Lee…"

"We've been through this, Lee. This is not merely an absence. Gai-sensei is not coming back."

Lee shot a venomous glare in Neji's direction and increased his speed. "He is! Gai-sensei would never die on a mission like this! He's too strong to be killed!"

Tenten's lower lip quivered, and she looked away quickly before her eyes could grow wet. She couldn't convince Lee when she could barely believe it herself. When she would give anything for Gai to walk back into Konoha and lecture them about youth and flash a too bright smile and a thumbs up.

Lee's next punch nearly splintered all the way through the log, and then Neji was there, catching him by the wrist and refusing to let him move forward again. "Lee."

"Let go of me, Neji!"

"Gai-sensei would be ashamed by your behavior."

Tenten froze. Neji's horrible words rang in her ears, and she almost couldn't believe it. Neji was cold, but he wasn't heartless.

Lee's muscles tensed. His black eyes went wide the moment the words left Neji's mouth, and he didn't move an inch, fist still buried in the beaten and splintered log. The Hyuuga's hand remained clasped around Lee's wrist, seeming ignorant of any impending danger.

Tenten wasn't necessarily surprised when Lee's fist swung around to connect with Neji's cheek and sent him sprawling into the dirt, but she still flinched at the sharp smack. Neji didn't move from his prone position in the dust, simply lifting a hand to wipe the small line of blood that had trailed out of his mouth, then raised his pale gaze to meet Lee's.

"What did Gai-sensei always warn us against? Underestimating the enemy. He always told us that, no matter how strong we get, there was always someone who was stronger, and we had to train to be ready. Gai-sensei simply fought someone who was stronger than he was."

Small tears shone in Lee's eyes. Not the over dramatic weeping that had always made Tenten's cheeks glow red with embarrassment, no; real tears of pain and a crippling grief so strong it made it impossible for him to speak. Neji continued on even as Lee's shoulders trembled, and he started to actually cry, but he didn't seem far from striking back, from kicking Neji to just get him to shut up.

"And now, you make matters worse by refusing to admit that there could be a stronger ninja than Gai-sensei. You are acting like a child. You are making it seem like Gai-sensei did not teach us and prepare us to be true shinobi; to accept the inevitability of death. By acting in this manner, you have shamed his memory."

"Hey, Neji, stop it. You're going too far…"

Neji did not even look at Tenten. He did not turn away from Lee, his piercing gaze boring into his teary black eyes in a solid expression of determination and Hyuuga stood, not flinching when Lee's hands clenched into fists and he started to tremble in fury.

"Gai-sensei is coming back, Neji! He… has to! I know he will!"

"Why? Why does he 'have to'?" Neji questioned coolly. "Is Gai-sensei invincible? Is he immortal? Is there a fight that he can lose?"

"No!" Lee's scream emerged from his throat in a wave of fury and he stomped his foot in frustration, so hard that the earth cracked. "No! Gai-sensei would never lose!"

"Stop this now. You are putting shame to his memory, Lee. He prepared us for the day when we would be faced with death, with an enemy stronger than ourselves. He trained us to overcome it, but the way you are acting, no one can tell. You are making it seem as if he was nothing more than a man who taught us taijutsu."

Lee stiffened in a feral expression of absolute fury. Tenten actually flinched as his Chakra sharpened into a violent killing intent, and, suddenly, she was worried she would have to stop Lee from seriously injuring Neji… or worse.

"Gai-sensei was incredible. He taught us everything, Neji; so much more than just how to fight! How dare you say that?!"

Neji's shoulders lifted and fell in the smallest of shrugs. "I didn't. You are the one giving off that impression by your behavior."

Lee's entire body trembled with rage. It was still for one terrible moment before he threw himself forward on top of his teammate, forcing him onto his back and slamming his hands into his shoulders, pinning him down. His chest was heaving and his hands were glowing with a thin blue light, his face beet red. Tenten stared, then realized that his pupils were growing smaller and his eyes were nothing but white- he had opened the first gate.

This was going too far. "_Lee, stop!_" she cried, reaching out, but it was too late.

"_Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho!_"

Tenten was thrown back by the whirlwind that was Neji, his palms flying out in a blur and slamming into his teammate. Neji spoke in the midst of his terrible assault, and his calm voice was almost frightening to hear on top of that display of energy and the violent attack.

"You can not win. Your skills have not developed enough, but as you are now, you can never win. Not because you can not fight well enough; because you are fighting with your emotion. That makes you weaker and you know it. You are letting your anger rule you- another thing Gai-sensei warned us against."

"Shut up! You don't have any right to call him Sensei; you betrayed him the moment you said he was dead! _Kyuumon: Kaihou!"_

"_Lee!_"

"_Hakke Kuusho!"_

Tenten watched in horror as Lee was blown back into a tree so hard the trunk splintered, and then the Hyuuga was upon him, open palm slamming into his form in a blur of motion, shutting down his Chakra flow. Opening the gates was worthless if his Chakra flow was halted, and Tenten could only hope Neji would incapacitate Lee without seriously hurting him. She knew she was no match for Lee and his eight gates- if Neji couldn't stop him, then Lee could badly hurt him.

Lee fought on without the aid of his ace in the hole, fists hammering uselessly against Neji's shoulders. Neji weathered the assault without complaint or even a single word. His long hair escaped it's leather binding and hung limply around his dirty cheeks, but his bland facade didn't once fade. Not even when the tears began to fall relentlessly down Lee's cheeks.

"Gai-sensei is dead, Lee."

Tenten's own vision was beginning to get blurry, so she wasn't sure when Lee's violent assault against Neji changed to him clinging to his teammate's neck, nor when the Hyuuga's calm endurance and stoic indifference faded and one single tear slipped down his pale cheek, his limp arms slowly returning Lee's embrace.

* * *

Jutsu:

Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms

Kyuumon: Kaihou: Second Gate of Healing, Open

Hakke Kuusho: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the review! Next chapter, the plot will develop past sad and depressing grieving; I just wanted to do the others who I killed off the same justice I tried to do Kakashi and Gai.

* * *

"Smoking isn't healthy, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru slowly breathed in, then let out a long exhale of smoke. He coughed a little, then inhaled again. "If I get lung cancer, then I'm sure I'll regret not listening to you."

Shikaku frowned but said nothing. At least, nothing further on the topic of smoking and being unhealthy; arguing with Shikamaru was a pointless venture. He simply rose to his feet and straightened his vest, patting his son on the shoulder as he passed by. "I'm going to a meeting with Ibiki and the Hokage. I'll be gone for the rest of the day."

The Nara genius just nodded slightly, his dull eyes still focused on a small gap in the floorboards. He didn't seem to have the energy to point out that he didn't care where his father was going, nor did he need to know; he simply sat there and waited for Shikaku to leave him alone.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be about to happen anytime soon. Instead of leaving, Shikaku paused by the door, and Shikamaru could feel the weight of his gaze on him.

"Shikamaru."

"i thought you were leaving."

"…I am the understood leader of the original Ino-Shika-Cho. When our sensei died, it became my responsibility to lead us. As the Nara of your trio, that responsibility now falls to you."

Shikamaru shifted in unease. "One Nara as leader does not a tradition make."

"I know that you have always shirked responsibility. But you are a ninja, Shikamaru. More than that- when I am gone, my position as Konoha's head of security and defense tactics will be yours. You will be head of the Nara clan. The time has come for you to rise to the occasion and do more than sleep the day away and complain that it is just too troublesome."

Shikamaru drew on his cigarette, releasing a toxic cloud that made Shikaku narrow his suddenly stinging eyes in protest. He gave a lax shrug and leaned his head back against the wall, blinking up at the ceiling. "Father, I'm not cut out to lead. Too lazy, and I don't really want it."

"Oh? Then who will lead if you don't? Chouji is too gentle, and you know it. He wouldn't be able to give orders, he wouldn't be able to handle the pressure when you and Ino were put in danger, and he would take mercy on the enemy when it could spell his defeat. Ino doesn't have a mind for planning; she wouldn't be able to come up with the strategies needed, nor would she be able to handle ordering you and Chouji to put yourself in danger. You are a leader, Shikamaru. Your sensei is dead. It's time for you to take up your responsibility as team leader."

"Yeah, whatever." Shikamaru rose to his feet and moved past his father, roughly brushing shoulders with him and taking the cigarette from his mouth. "I'm going out."

"Ino and Chouji could probably use someone to talk to."

"I wasn't asking for you to give me something to do."

"…I know you weren't."

Shikamaru walked slowly down the street after crushing the smoking cigarette under his boot, his hands in his pockets. He didn't particularly like smoking; he couldn't stand the smell, it made him gag, and it was hard to breathe. He had never understood how Asuma could stand walking around all day with his head in a thick grey cloud, nor why Kurenai had put up with it.

But, it was a bit addictive. He was already ignoring the smallest of cravings for another, and it had only been a minute since he'd crushed his last cigarette.

Of course, the craving could have nothing to do with the nicotine and everything to do with who it reminded him of…

Shikamaru lightly fingered the tiny scroll in his pocket and allowed his shoulders to slump. He did have a responsibility to take it to Ino and Chouji… perhaps his father was right. Just this once, he would just carry out his duty and not procrastinate, whine that it was too troublesome, and sleep.

After all, Ino and Chouji had just as much of a right to read Asuma's last words as he did.

_Shikamaru-_

_As the leader of Ino-Shika-Cho, I have addressed this to you. I'm sure you are surprised this was not written for Kurenai. Until today, my letter was written for her- but she is coming on this mission with me. Neither of us shares any hope of coming home, so our letters are written to our teams._

_There isn't much for me to say to you. You three are progressing very well and are so much more than the lazy boy, the superficial girl, and the boy who was so kind he couldn't hit anyone, not even the enemy, that I first met. Do not grow lazy and lax; you will only have a feat to be truly proud of when your formation is one to rival your fathers. But have come a long way and I know that I am proud of each of you._

_Chouji- your kindness is a gift, no matter how often others call it cowardice. Never stop caring. Someday, what those others call your greatest vice will become your greatest strength. Your loyalty to your teammates is not something that should be taken lightly, either. In time, I know that you will be worthy of the title as head Akimichi and a member of Ino-Shika-Cho. Never doubt that. _

_Ino- you genuinely care for your teammates. You are loyal to them and will stop at nothing to protect them… or keep them in line. Ino, I trust you to stop Shikamaru from becoming too lazy and keep Chouji from showing too much mercy- and perhaps taking a little more whenever someone unwittingly insults his weight. Keep working with your medical ninjutsu; you have a talent for it, and maybe listen when the Hokage tells you you really don't need to lose any more weight. _

_Shikamaru- I know that you don't like responsibility, but you inherited your father's talent for strategy. You're leader of Ino-Shika-Cho, whether you like it or not. I also know that you step up when needed, so I don't have to tell you that the responsibility of leading your team is not one that can be shirked. I know that you'll take them as far and even farther than Shikaku took his trio. I wish I could just be there to watch you do it, but I won't be. _

_It was decided the day that you three entered the Academy that you would be put on a genin team together, and that I would be your jounin sensei. So I took particular interest in following you three in the Academy, and, to be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it. You seemed lazy, unmotivated, and the three most unsuited to work together as a team. I could never have been more wrong. You three work together the best out of everyone in your class, and I am proud to have been your sensei._

_I suppose that I am rambling, now. We have to leave on the mission soon. I've already said everything that I have wanted to. Now, as a last request- Shikamaru, I ask that you go to my house and find the old family heirloom that I showed you once. You know the one. I left it near the shogi board. As I am likely not coming back after this mission, I need you to give it to Konohamaru for me when he turns sixteen. Old Sarutobi tradition. Thank you in advance._

_Love, Asuma _

It bothered him far more than it should that both Asuma and his father felt the need to tell him that he was now leader of Ino-Shika-Cho.

A lot of things bothered him, nowadays.

Shikamaru fingered the small scroll again and cleared the lump in his throat before raising his head. He was a bit surprised when he found where his mindless roaming had taken him, but perhaps it was fate's way of handing him responsibility. And who was he to say no to fate?

He slouched up to the door and knocked.

It was only a few moments before Inoichi answered. The man looked tired and haggard, his customary ponytail a bit lower than usual and dark rings under his eyes, as if he hadn't gotten a good night's worth of sleep in quite a while. His trademark black coat was conspicuously missing, and Shikamaru found it slightly odd that the man was home. Konoha had just lost six powerful ninja and was likely scrambling for all available men to take up the slack; Inoichi was one of the elite. What was he doing at home?

"Shikamaru. I've been expecting you."

"Is she here?"

Inoichi nodded and stepped back, allowing him to come in. "So is Chouji. He came along a few hours ago… Ino appreciated the company."

"Aah." Shikamaru stepped through the doorway and slipped off his sandals, casting a glance around the Yamanaka household. It seemed dark, almost cold, without Ino bouncing about to brighten it up.

He heard Inoichi drift away, murmuring something about finding Ino's mother, and Shikamaru traipsed up the stairs. He could hear Ino and Chouji moving about upstairs, and felt a twinge of guilt for avoiding them until now. It wasn't as if it had been a conscious move on his part. They just hadn't made any attempt to seek him out, nor he, they.

Shikamaru knew Ino, at least, with her refined Chakra control, knew that he was here before Inoichi had let him inside. She still didn't appear out of her room to greet him, so Shikamaru lightly knocked on her door before nudging it open without waiting for an invitation.

As Inoichi has said, both Ino and Chouji were inside. His female teammate kneeling on the wooden floor, absentmindedly rearranging several plain white flowers in a vase. Her favorite pastime, one that never failed to calm her down. Chouji was sitting against the wall, his head in his hands, an empty bag of chips on the floor by his feet.

They were both wearing the earrings Asuma had given them.

So was he. He hadn't even realized he'd put them on.

Chouji glanced at him and nodded in greeting. Ino didn't even spare him a look.

"…Yo."

"Shikamaru."

Shikamaru didn't acknowledge Chouji's greeting. He fingered the scroll lightly for a moment, then pulled it out and tossed it to Ino, who caught it by reflex.

"This is?"

"…Asuma-sensei's last words."

The blonde stiffened slightly while Chouji's head shot upright in shock. He crawled to Ino's side immediately while she glanced over her shoulder at him, tossing her long ponytail out of her eyes. "How… I mean, how long…?"

"Two days."

Ino remained still for one long moment, then slowly turned away to open the scroll with shaking hands. Chouji crouched next to her and, together, they read the scroll that Shikamaru had already memorized.

First, Chouji's eyes narrowed in an attempt to hold back tears. He bit his lip and abruptly turned away from the thin sheet, and it took Shikamaru a moment to realize he was averting his eyes so he did not read the messages meant for himself and Ino. That was Chouji. Almost too kind and respectful to be a ninja.

Ino reached her paragraph, then, and her clear blue eyes misted over almost immediately. She held her shoulders firm, though, and didn't shake, didn't cry out, not once. She held herself together with an admirable strength until she finally lowered the letter. Then her shoulders slumped, she hung her her head, and gave a dry sob.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do when they both started crying.

When Ino sobbed again and Chouji buried his face in his hands, Shikamaru just stood there, helpless. He took a small step forward, then faltered, staring down at his two teammates in horror as the realization truly hit him for the first time that them, their _lives_, were now solely his responsibility. That woman trembling on the floor and the man gripping the carpet in fists so tight they could pulverize a rock, both stricken with grief, were now _his_ responsibility.

It was the first time he realized that he had no idea what he was supposed to do as their leader.

* * *

Akamaru paced morosely around the Hyuuga compound's courtyard. He dragged his paws in the dust and moved in a limp circle, his head hanging so low his dark nose almost touched the ground. Kiba sat across from him, leaning on the low wall, head resting in his hand. He absentmindedly pulled at a few sparse strands of grass that had grown in the dust, his dark eyes dull and tired. The characteristic spiky hair of a Inuzuka was limp and clung to the lowered hood of his jacket as if it were dirty and had not been washed in several days.

Hinata was in a similar position as her teammate. She was sitting on her heels in the middle of the courtyard, shoulders slumped and hands clasped in her lap. Her pale eyes gazed off into the distance without emotion, as if she were lost in a memory. A light breeze started up, brushing her dark hair away from her pale face, but her dead gaze didn't once waver, as if she didn't even notice the wind.

The final member of Team Eight stood at the base of the tree that shaded the courtyard. His trademark appearance was not changed in the slightest, not with his collar covering the lower half of his face and his customary goggles and over sized trench coat. His hands were in his pockets and he appeared to be watching over his teammates, and would've even pulled off the normal facade if not for the small insect crawling in tiny circles on his hand. If one didn't know any better, it seemed almost as if the bug was trying to comfort Shino.

Amidst the dust was a small scroll. It lay almost flat, having been unfurled and read so often. Akamaru's pacing often took him close to it, and it was then that he would whine piteously, the only sound that broke the depressing stillness.

_Hinata-_

_I addressed this to you because you're a member of Team Eight. Kiba, don't get jealous- I picked Hinata by the flip of a coin. And don't get angry that I told you not to get jealous and not Shino. _

_I'm sorry that you have to read this. I can promise that I tried very hard to stay alive on the mission, but it was a suicide mission from the beginning. Our team had little chance of success. But I did my best to prepare you for when someone close to you would die- I do hope I did a good job. _

_Well, many shinobi don't have an opportunity to give their loved ones last words, so I suppose I should take advantage of this chance. Hinata- I only have to tell you what I always have. Speak up and be more confident; you have no reason to be so unsure of yourself. Stop listening so much to what your father thinks of you and care more about your opinion of yourself and how your friends see you. And, someday, you really should tell Naruto how you feel. Regardless of how far you still have to grow, you have come so far since we first met. After all, you can now speak to your cousin and ask him to help train you- you never could have done that when you first became a ninja. I'm proud of you._

_Kiba, you're talented in every area that Hinata is not. You're confident and outspoken- though perhaps you should take a lesson or two from Hinata and learn when to cool off. You've certainly matured since we first met and I know that you will only continue to grow. However, your determination hasn't once faded over the years- so I feel obligated to tell you that all your efforts to get me and Asuma together were in vain. We were already seeing each other before you graduated. So, if you think about it, you three and Team Ten are kind of like step-siblings. So, if Asuma died on this mission with me, then look after those three. I know it's ironic, me asking you, of all people, to act like the responsible one. But you take brilliant care of Akamaru, and Team Ten can't be much worse than him. No offense, Akamaru.  
_

_Shino, you are as different from Kiba and Hinata as they are from each other. This is good; you three complement each other. But, maybe you should speak up a little more- then you would be more memorable, and perhaps Naruto you stop forgetting your name? Well, you do what you think is best- you always did have the best judgement, out of the three. That's why I'm asking you to keep Hinata and Kiba on the right track. Mainly Kiba. _

_One last thing, Hinata- if you don't mind, my clan has already had a tradition of passing on our first hitai-ate to our daughters. It looks like the Yuuhi clan ends with me, but I'd like for you to have it. My hitai-ate is in my home, next to our team's photograph. _

_Stay safe, you three. I know you'll one day become some of the best shinobi in Konoha , and certainly worthy of your clans' admiration. I'm proud of all three of you and I'm sorry you have to deal with me dying. But I don't want to end this letter on a sad note. Thank you for being such amazing, loyal students to me. I hope I was able to as good as a teacher as you were a team. _

_Love, Kurenai_

"Woof woof!"

"Unh… you hungry, Akamaru?"

"Woof woof!"

Kiba lazily looked between Akamaru and the way to the street. Normally, he'd be immediately jumping onto his back and riding him out in search of lunch. Now, however, Kiba simply let his deadened gaze drift back to the ground as he shrugged. "Can you go home without me? Mom will give you something."

Akamaru gave a little whine and slowly padded over to him to nudge his shoulder with his nose. At Kiba's raised eyebrow, he jerked his head toward the gate and barked quietly, almost in disappointment. "What, you want me to go with you?"

Akamaru growled in his ear, and Kiba grinned without real happiness. "Sorry… I know I'm a sucky owner, but I wanna stay with my team today. Please, Akamaru?"

"Grrrr…"

"Kiba-kun, it's really okay if you have to leave…"

"No, it's not. That is because the last time that he left on his own, he ran into the Hokage and verbally assaulted her."

Kiba shot a glare at Shino while Hinata shifted uneasily. "You know damn well why I did that."

Shino gave the distinct impression that he was glaring, even though his eyes were covered. "Hokage-sama is a poor target for your rash actions, even for you."

"Wha- by the way you're talking, I was just looking for someone to yell at and picked her on a whim!"

"Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, please-"

"I yelled at her because she sent Kurenai-sensei out there to die!"

"That's odd. You've never been angry at her before when she sent Sensei on a mission."

Kiba straightened upright a bit, his eyes now bright and furious. Akamaru barked in shared anger as his owner made to stand, now glaring. "That's different. All those people who died, they all said it was a suicide mission! That old hag, she knew they were going to die and sent them out anyway!"

Shino made no response when Kiba advanced. He didn't appear even the slightest bit intimidated- in fact, he didn't even seem to notice or care that his teammate was getting angry. "Every time the Hokage sent Kurenai-sensei on a mission, there was a risk of her dying. Every time we go on a mission, there is a risk of one of _us_ dying. This was no different."

Kiba stared in fury. He abruptly rose to his feet and took a step forward, curling his hands into loose claws in an offensive position. "You callous idiot. This is _sensei_ we're talking about! How… how the hell can you side with the Hokage over her?!"

"I'm not picking sides. There are no sides. That is because-"

"Stow it with all your dammed explanations! I don't need an explanation! All I need to know is that the Hokage treated her like she was just some expendable soldier and she's _not!_ That's not right! That's not right it, damn it, and she shouldn't get away with it! _She's_ the reason that Kurenai-sensei is dead!"

"…K-Kiba-kun, I, um-"

"You, too, Hinata? You going to side with Shino on this?"

Hinata averted her eyes as Kiba turned on her, flinching at his loud voice. Akamaru barked threateningly and she scooted back a few inches as Kiba's verbal attack continued. "I can't believe you two! There's a regular mission, and then there are fucking suicide missions, and that's what that old hag sent Sensei on, and you don't even care! It wasn't just her, Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Asuma-sensei, and those two other ANBU died! There's no way they would all be killed on a legit mission; Tsunade knew they would die and she didn't even care!"

"Kiba! Kurenai-sensei wasn't just a civilian. She pledged her life to Konoha the day she graduated. 'Suicide missions', as you call them, are part of a shinobi's life. That is because they place the village over their own well being."

Kiba's sharp, claw-like hands stretched as if they were itching to wrap around Shino's neck. "That's a load of crap. If she dies, how the hell is she anymore use to Konoha? Exactly, she's not! It's stupid, you moron, and I can't believe you're taking Tsunade's side in this."

"Kiba-kun, I… I… I think that Shino-kun is right."

Kiba turned back to Hinata in surprise, and even Shino seemed a little startled that Hinata had stated her own opinion. They both remained silent, letting her talk, though Kiba seemed a bit reluctant to hear her out. "I mean, Tsunade-sama didn't send Kurenai-sensei to die on purpose. And we're all ninja… we could all die on every mission we take. It doesn't seem fair to blame her for it. It was a classified S-rank, so, it must have been really dangerous…"

Kiba rolled his eyes in aggravation. "Hinata, if the mission was really so _dangerous_ it killed Sensei and all those other people, then she shouldn't have accepted it in the first place."

"It is her duty to accept missions. That is because they are what finance this village, and her job is to take care of the village, not the individual shinobi."

Only silence answered Shino's statement. Kiba looked at him a bit oddly, expression unreadable, but if his trembling hands were any indication he was no calmer now than he was before. When Akamaru gave a low growl, Kiba's hand went automatically to his neck, but the dark look in his eye mirrored his dog's. "..Come on, Akamaru. We're going after all."

Akamaru glared at Shino with such a venomous look it would've made a lesser man tremble and slunk after Kiba, not once looking away from the bug user. Once Kiba and Akamaru had reached the gate, Kiba turned back to look at his teammates himself.

"Oi, Shino."

Shino barely even turned to acknowledge Kiba's words, but his slight shift in posture made it clear he was listening.

"If this village only exists because people like Kurenai-sensei were ordered to sacrifice themselves, then I don't want to be a part of it."


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the review!

* * *

"Joining me at the bar tonight. That's my man, Raidou."

Raidou didn't even look up from the depths of his drink as Anko slid into onto a stool right next to his. He hadn't been looking for company, and he felt that that should have been rather obvious. Perhaps a silent drinking partner, like Aoba, might be welcome- Anko was everything but.

"Yo, bartender! I'll take whatever he's having."

Raidou grimaced, seriously considering just eating up and walking right out the door. He was here to drown his sorrows, not party with Anko. "Hey, I'm not in the mood, Anko. Find someone else."

Anko slung her arm around his shoulder, and he deduced that she was probably already a little drunk. "Aw, come on! You gonna quit on me? We haven't even started!"

He immediately lifted her arm and dropped it down on the bar table with a small shiver. No one was allowed to touch him like that, no one but his Genma.

His Genma… _his_ Genma…

He missed his Genma so much it hurt to breathe.

Anko whined loudly the moment he made to stand, effectively crushing all of Raidou's hopes of a night to himself. He had known the moment he stepped out his door that it was a bad idea. That he should just stay home with a picture, a scroll, and his own sake. He had _known_ it was a bad idea to listen to his old ANBU buddies, but he had, and only half an hour into the night they'd been called out on a mission and left him alone.

He should've just gone home then. He really didn't know why he didn't.

"So sad, Raidou, so sad." Anko started on her drink, nudging her shoulder against his. "Cheer up."

He glared at her out of the corner of his eye. She was pushing it. "Fuck off, Anko. I'm not going to say it again."

"Come on, now. We all lose someone nowadays. It ain't so tough."

This time, Raidou shoved her away from him so hard she almost fell to the floor. "You know what, Anko? You go out, then, and lose someone who was more than just your friend. Oh, wait. To do that, you have to not be a bitch. Sorry."

"Now you're just being bitter."

"Yeah, I am. Now, unless you and Tenzo were having some secret love affair- which I really wouldn't put past you- leave me the hell alone."

Anko scoffed and took another drink. "Me and Tenzi? Nah, he's a prude. But, he gets flustered easily, and I like that… no, no. He's not kinky enough. No way."

"Wrong tense, Anko."

"What?"

Raidou winced. It had just slipped out; why, he didn't know. And he didn't particularly want to explain it- not when he made the same mistake himself. "…You used present tense. But he's dead."

The woman blinked and just stared at him. After a moment paused in silence, she let out a loud laugh and went back to her drink. "Grammar nazi. Now I remember why I was Genma's friend and not yours. He was the fun one; you were the boring one. Like the parent chaperone at the party."

"That's fine with me. I was never your friend, Anko. You were always Genma's."

She rolled her eyes and returned to her drink. It was only blissfully silent for a moment, though; then she was back, looking to him with a drunken grin and a mischievous hint to her voice. "So, tell me, Raidou! How was Genma's letter? Was it all hot and steamy? Genma was such a pervert, so I wouldn't be surprised. Tenzi's was kinda boring."

Raidou flinched. He would tolerate Anko, to a point, but she had just gone too far. That letter wasn't her business. It just wasn't, and it made him furious that she even asked. He pushed her away from him again and stood, turning away to leave the bar. "Fuck the hell off."

"Come on, Raidou! Just a little question. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Raidou just shook his head. The scroll in his vest felt as heavy as a lead weight and it was suddenly hard to take another step, Genma's last words holding him in place and making him tremble. It just wasn't fair.

Anko had just lost a friend. She hadn't lost her lover, her partner, her…

Everything.

So what business did she have talking to him like she understood? She didn't understand. No one did. No one understood- but at least Anko wasn't trying to make him feel better. She was infinitely better than those fools who had patted him awkwardly on the back like an old friend and promised that yes, he missed Genma now, but it would get better and that he would find someone else- and _dared_ to say all that with a _smile_.

After he'd punched one such person into the wall so hard they cracked their skull, those kinds of visits had ceased.

Raidou shook his head bitterly and walked away from the now annoyed and definitely drunk Anko. Anko may not be as bad as them, but she was bad enough.

"Come on, put up with me, Raidou! Genma always did…"

The words struck a chord. He winced and hung his head, hand moving to grasp the letter tightly. Anko had no way of knowing how much what she had just said hurt, but, even so…

_Raidou-_

_Hey there. Well… sorry. You always told me to be more careful, but I guess I must've slipped up, or you wouldn't be reading this. _

_I don't really have much to say. You want me to go for the melodramatic last words, or maybe the cliche deathbed secret? Damn… I think I told you all my secrets. You really domesticated me, Raidou. Hmm… well, Kakashi gave me some advice for this. Yeah, he's coming with us, too. I guess the main thing is that I want you to be happy. I'm the mopey one with all the troubles in our relationship, not you. _

_Well, I'm the jealous type. I don't really like it when other people look at you and fawn over you. But I'm dead, so, I say, fuck me and my jealousy. Go out there and party, have some fun! _

_Ha, you at a party. That's a funny image. But you're too serious, Raidou. Really. Have some fun. Please? For me?_

_Oh, yeah. And, another thing, just for me. I know you can't really stand Anko, but she's my crazy friend, and you could do with one for yourself. At least try and put up with her. I know she can be a bit much. _

_And promise me one last thing. You remember that special bottle of really expensive sake? I said that we would drink at our gayest wedding ever, because you like romantic sweethearts, even though you hated me calling it that. Seems like we won't get to drink it then. So drink it after my funeral, instead. I don't mean to be morbid, but I want you to drink it on some occasion that has to do with me._

_I suppose this is it, then. …I'm really sorry, Raidou. I thought we'd have more time together._

_Love, Genma_

"Oi, Oi, Raidou! Wait! Don't leave!" Anko called in protest, but it was too late. The scarred jounin was already gone.

She sighed and went back to her drink, pushing her hair back off her forehead. "Man, no one even cares about poor little Anko." She glanced around the bar with a depressed look, then groaned and turned back to her drink. "Old Yammy always let me drag him around. …But old Yammy got himself killed. Hmm."

At that, her lips pulled into a frown, and she took enough rather large gulp of her drink. Raidou's attitude mirrored everyone else's, it seemed. Everyone else, they lost a sensei or a lover, and they got the understanding from others. But she had lost what most people had assumed was barely an acquaintance at best, and they assumed she had nothing to grieve.

True, she and Tenzo had not been lovers. He didn't even hold the very common title of being her occasional fuck buddy. And if it weren't for the fact that they had both come away alive after being Orochimaru's little lab rats, she probably never would have associated with him- he was too easily flustered, too cautious and well-mannered, to be much fun. They had shared some pretty awkward moments in the past and she quite enjoyed using Tenzo as the butt of many jokes and pranks, and his frequent blushes and nervous chuckles had always amused her.

The truth was, she and Tenzo had been close friends for years. And she was pissed to all hell that he'd been sent off on a suicide mission and been killed- and perhaps even a little more angry to find that almost no one had even realized they'd been friends. They'd always been the awkward pair of escaped lab rats that just really didn't go together, but been paired off through circumstance. It was an awkward friendship, but a good one.

Or was, at least until Tenzo had managed to run off and get himself killed.

And Anko was starting to think that she had meant a lot more to Tenzo than he meant to her, seeing as his last regrets letter, the letter that was supposed to be addressed to a lover or a sibling or a teammate, had been addressed to _her_.

_Anko-_

_Well… bet you didn't expect to get this. Truth was, it was originally addressed to Kakashi-senpai, but he's coming on this mission with me. All my other friends are ANBU, besides Team Seven, and they're too young for me to write something like this to them. And letters to ANBU operatives, you know how they got lost so easily- they fear that it'll screw with operatives heads, make them more emotional… didn't want to risk it. So I wrote it to you._

_I don't mean to make it sound like you're a last resort or anything, but- oh, hell. If I ramble on, I'll probably just make things worse. _

_I'll cut to the chase. It's depressing to write a letter that'll only be of any use when I'm dead, so I'll keep it short. I know that we're not the best of friends, but please carry out a few last requests for me? _

_First, don't make Raidou miserable. Genma's coming with us, too, and Raidou really doesn't like you all that much. So do your best not to drive him completely insane. _

_Second, don't frighten Naruto and Sakura if they ask you anything about me. Just tell them; I don't have any secrets I care to keep from them. _

_Third, don't use my death as an excuse to just become even weirder than you already are. You scare enough people as it is, Anko. Just don't develop any bad habits over me. _

_Fourth… well, this isn't really a request. But I know you always pestered me to make you a wooden snake; you kept claiming you wanted to scare people with it. Whatever you wanted to use it for, I made it for you before I left. It's at your place, hidden in the same cabinet I hid the sake in. Where you hide your handcuffs- that should be enough to help you find it. _

_Fifth, please do not use my snake for any of your sexual escapades._

…_That's a bit depressing. List of last regrets, and not even half of them are even about me. Well, I guess it can't be helped. Anko, I really did consider you a friend and hope you considered me one as well. Kind of wish that I wasn't about to die, but… well, when I sign this letter and submit it, I'll be going. So, sorry in advance. I'll try to stay alive, but it probably won't work. So… I guess I'll see you someday. If we end up in the same place. We should. I know you joke about ending up in hell but- Okay, I'm rambling. Sorry. I have to end this now. _

_With love, Tenzo _

Anko took another long drink, her shoulders slumped. "Silly old Tenzo," she muttered under her breath. "Course I considered you a friend… till you went off and died. Bastard."

Maybe Raidou and Iruka had lost their lovers, and maybe the four rookie teams had lost their sensei, but she had lost someone, too. And whether she wanted to admit it or not, it hurt that yet another friend had been killed.

Sometimes, Anko wished that she could just get so drunk she would sleep forever. Then she would never have to deal with Orochimaru, with Tenzo, with Raidou, with the memories and the hurt, and everything would be okay.

Of course, happy endings were not reserved for shinobi.

* * *

It wasn't until late that same night that Anko finally decided to hunt down the snake Tenzo had told her about. It felt almost wrong to take the gift she begged him so much for _now_, only after he was _dead_, but he had asked her to. Who was she to say no?

It was a nice piece, displaying Tenzo's usual eye for detail and delicate craftsmanship. He'd even put a few fancy designs on the wood, just for her, and it made her smile.

Out of curiosity, Anko felt around in its mouth for its tongue. After all, any fellow student/experiment of Orochimaru's was familiar with his inhumanly long and just plain creepy tongue, and she wouldn't have been surprised to find if Tenzo's present had been modeled after Orochimaru.

She found the tongue mobile. "Now, this is a surprise," she murmured, and pulled on it in interest. "Tenzi, you shouldn't have."

Out came the wooden tongue, just like Orochimaru's, and Anko found herself grinning in reminisce. Just like her Tenzo to do this… wait, what? There was something on that tongue.

Anko narrowed her eyes when a tiny transportation scroll fell out of the snake. What was going on? Had Tenzo left some kind of a message for her? With a quick seal, she had summoned what was hidden in the scroll, and ended up with a small scrap of paper in her hands.

She looked down at in confusion. It was in Tenzo's distinctive scrawl, but what exactly it was supposed to represent, she had no idea.

_KMnO4 + AlK(SO4)2 * 12H20 - by Tsunade- for Sakura _

_For usage against Danzou_

What was going on?

* * *

Raidou padded to his dark kitchen, the grey blanket hanging off his shoulders and his headband slung around his neck, untied. He was more than a bit hungover and his head was pounding, his mouth was dry, and his stomach was roiling. Getting back in bed seemed like a fantastic idea, but he wasn't ready to just yet. First he wanted to get a little more drunk.

His mind drifted to the sake Genma had mentioned in his letter. He had left it untouched the night of the funeral. He hadn't had the heart to do anything more than lock his door and curl up on his bed, cradling one of Genma's vests with a senbon that tasted just like him in his mouth. That sake had been meant for something special and _happy_. It had been meant for them _both_. Drinking it alone seemed like almost too much.

But his Genma had told him to drink it.

So, with a heavy heart, Raidou went to the cabinet, set on following through with Genma's last request. But, when he opened it, he was certainly in for a surprise.

The bottle was just where he remembered it to be. But there was no sake in it; in fact, it was bone dry. All that was inside was a tiny scroll.

Raidou just crouched there and stared at it. Had he forgotten where he put the sake? But, then, what was this supposed to be? He reached out to investigate with a dull interest, but the moment he touched the neck of the bottle, he paused.

What if this was another message from Genma?

He flinched, his heart in his throat. He didn't want another message. He could barely handle the letter he had now; he didn't want to read another message from beyond the grave, and he wasn't particularly sure he could handle it. Genma was gone. His Genma wasn't coming back; he didn't want this to continue.

But, if it was a message from Genma, then he had no choice but to read it. How could he be expected not to?

Raidou emptied out the contents of the bottle into his hand and took a deep breath, then opened it up.

_Maito Gai- Konoha master in taijutsu_

_Hatake Kakashi- Konoha master in ninjutsu_

_Yuuhi Kurenai- Konoha master in genjutsu_

_Sarutobi Asuma- last Sarutobi_

_Shiranui Genma- next up for ANBU commander_

_Tenzo- wood user  
_

Raidou stared blankly at the short list in confusion. What the hell was this supposed to be? Even if this was a message from his lover, it was worthless. He didn't want a list of the six who had died on that mission.

Though he hadn't known Genma had been up for the position of ANBU commander…

But that didn't matter. This short list wasn't going to bring Genma back. It was just sitting there, a worthless scrap of paper in his hands that he'd found instead of the sake that Genma had promised would be opened on their wedding night.

"You always said we'd have the gayest wedding ever… even when I told you that sounded so stupid, you'd just say it louder." Raidou let out a laugh that was more than half a sob and sank to his knees, crumpling the letter in his hand into a little ball. It hurt even worse now. He'd almost been hoping that that was a letter from Genma telling him that this was all just a stupid, stupid prank, but instead…

Raidou clamped a hand over his mouth and muffled a cry.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the review!

* * *

Sakura jumped when she heard the door to her office creak open. She raised her head off her arms in time to see Naruto move inside and plop himself into a chair, his eyes downcast. He looked just as miserable as he had before, and she had to assume that his talk with Iruka hadn't gone well. "…Naruto?"

The blond met her eyes and slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. Iruka-sensei's… he's worse than we thought."

Sakura sighed sadly. She slowly straightened out the files she had fallen asleep on rather than meeting Naruto's depressed gaze, thinking back to the last time she had seen Iruka. She had fought to hold the enraged man back from trying to kill her master… even though she had had half a mind to help him instead. Once Tsunade had ordered the ANBU to release him, Iruka had stormed out of the office with a poisonous glare and hadn't been seen outside of his home since. Apparently, he'd put in for leave from the Academy and, aside from the funeral and his confrontation with Tsunade, no one had seen him outside since he'd heard the news.

And she wanted to side with Tsunade, she really did, but that didn't change the fact that Kakashi was dead because of a suicide mission _she _had assigned.

"How do you mean, Naruto? I mean, I'm sure he's… devastated, but I can't see Iruka-sensei letting himself become depressed…"

Naruto slowly shook his head, seeming lost in thought. "I could barely get him out of bed. I don't think he's been eating, and he wouldn't let go of Kaka-sensei's letter."

"Well, you got him to eat, right? You said you were going to bring something over just in case he hadn't been…"

"Yeah, but I don't think it matters that much if he only eats when I'm there."

Sakura frowned. She had to agree with Naruto, but, unlike him, she was unable to help Iruka. She had never seen Iruka as more than just another teacher, but Naruto- she had never really thought about it, but the only person she'd seen him with before they'd graduated was Iruka. As far as she was aware, Naruto still ate ramen with him after every mission.

It was like a double whammy, she figured, for Naruto to lose Kakashi and then have his beloved Iruka end up like this.

She cleared her throat and tried to rearrange her features in a comforting display. "Naruto, you know Iruka-sensei better than I do. But I don't think it'll take much work to get him feeling at least a little bit better. He always was a very happy person, down-to-earth, you know. Kind of like you. And Jiraiya-sama helped you out…" She trailed off suggestively, but was disheartened when Naruto merely rested his head in his hand and sighed, a sad move that was very uncharacteristic of him.

"I know, but… Sakura-chan, I've never seen him like this before. I mean, before… all of this… he was so happy. And now…"

Sakura bit her lip. She didn't like seeing Naruto so sad, especially when she was already so miserable herself. "Hey, this is better than Raidou, right? I've heard that he's either drinking or unconscious."

"I don't care if he's better than Raidou. This isn't a competition! I just want Iruka-sensei back… and Yamato-taichou, and…"

He didn't have to finish that sentence.

Sakura didn't know what to say. She lowered her eyes to her desk and silence overtook her small office. She wanted Yamato and Kakashi back, too.

"At… at least we still have our masters," she murmured. She couldn't imagine how she would be faring if not for Tsunade and Shizune. The two had kept their distance but provided a source of familiarity, and that alone was comforting when so many of the people who had once made Konoha home were now dead. She could only assume Jiraiya was doing the same for Naruto, and was reassured when the blond gave a shrug in the affirmative.

"Yeah. I can tell that Ero-sennin misses Kaka-sensei too, but we can miss him _together_, you know? I don't feel so bad when I'm with him."

Sakura smiled and nodded, a bit wistfully. She almost wished that Tsunade felt like Jiraiya did- but her master didn't even seem to care that she had sent Kakashi and the others out to their deaths. It hadn't affected her in the slightest.

No, it had to be affecting her. Sakura knew her master well, and she was anything but heartless. No matter how often the Hokage harped on to Kakashi about his post-mission avoidance of the hospital song and dance or his talent for returning about to keel over from Chakra exhaustion, Sakura knew she still cared for Kakashi and disliked giving him such dangerous missions. There was no chance that Tsunade wasn't torn up over his death just as much as they were.

_Well… perhaps not just as much as us…_

She thought back to their genin photograph, still sitting on her bedside table at home. Many times over the past three years, the moon had traveled across the sky to her sitting there and staring at it, thinking back of when those four mismatched souls had banded together as Team Seven. Those nights, her thoughts had been focused with longing and grief towards one member only.

But now, the team of four was just a team of two. No matter how unlikely she had known it was, Sakura had always hoped the tiniest spark of hope that, someday, Team Seven would come back together again, and they would go on missions and train together just like the old days, with Naruto and old Kakashi-sensei and _Sasuke._

But that was suddenly impossible. She could almost see the dream before her before it vanished, rent into a million impossible pieces and for a moment, she wanted to hit her baka sensei for accepting this stupid suicide mission in the first place, why was he so arrogant didn't he _know_ he wasn't invincible how could he have just accepted it and left them behind like this?

Then reality would hit and she wanted to never hurt anything again, just retire with Naruto and Sasuke and never have to deal with anyone dying ever, ever again.

"Em, Sakura-chan. I almost forgot- Iruka-sensei asked to see you. He wanted to talk to both of us, together- I asked why, he wouldn't say."

Sakura blinked, then allowed Naruto's voice to pull her out of her thoughts. "Oh," she murmured, rubbing her eyes before casting a weary look over her schedule. "My break's over in five minutes, Naruto, and I don't get off until eight tonight… can we do this tomorrow?"

Naruto nodded. "I thought you might be busy and told him- he said it was okay, that it wasn't urgent. Tomorrow, on your lunch break, then?"

"Yeah, that'll work."

Naruto paused, then slowly pushed himself up out of the chair. The slow movement seemed to take almost all of his strength and his shoulders slumped as he gave her a tired wave and headed to the door. "I'll let you get back to work, Sakura-chan. I'm off to train with Ero-sennin. See you tomorrow at Iruka-sensei's."

"Right." Sakura watched as Naruto headed for the door, all the while wondering just what it was Iruka wanted to talk to them about. She had a sinking feeling it would be about Kakashi, and almost wished she had lied and said she couldn't come- because talking about Kakashi would only make her feel worse.

* * *

All three members of Team Ten stared down at the slip of paper in Shikamaru's hand in disbelief.

When Ino and Chouji had accompanied Shikamaru in fetching the Sartuboi heirloom mentioned in the letter, they had not expected this. They had expected an earring, or a sash, or maybe some kind of fancy watch- because even though the letter claimed Asuma had shown it to Shikamaru once, the Nara had no recollection of the event- but not this.

_Mission Rank: S-Rank_

_Mission leader: Hatake Kakashi- jounin_

_Other members: Maito Gai- jounin, Yuuhi Kurenai- jounin, Sarutobi Asuma- jounin, Shiranui Genma- ANBU captain, Tenzo- ANBU  
_

_Mission location: Northwestern Quadrant of Mountain Country_

_Mission date: September 15th, 96 years after the founding_

_Mission: To launch a surprise attack on the Akatsuki. Take out as many members as possible. Returning alive is not a priority._

The date was that of when Asuma and the others had left on their last mission.

The mission details made it clear that this had, in fact, been a suicide mission.

"…What the hell is this?"

Shikamaru slowly shook his head at Ino, unable to tear his eyes away from the paper. He had expected something was off ever since he read that Asuma had once shown him this so-called 'family heirloom', because his memory was impeccable and he remembered no such thing, and Asuma wasn't prone to making things up. But this…

"Shikamaru?" Chouji asked hesitantly, turning to him. "This is the mission that Asuma-sensei and the others went on, isn't it?"

"…Looks like it."

Ino took the paper from him and shook it, her eyes narrowed in anger. "Nu uh. No way. Tsunade-sama would never assign something like this! It's suicide! The paper even says it- 'returning alive is not a priority!' Really, Shikamaru, this can't be _that_ mission. Besides, why would Asuma-sensei leave us the mission details?"

Shikamaru frowned. Ino was right; even for the six ninja on that terrible mission, the six who could be considered to be the strongest ninja in Konoha, an assignment to take on the Akatsuki would be suicide. For one, they were outnumbered, and for another, Akatsuki ninja simply weren't the kind of foe that could be taken with just equal numbers. It would take more than nine strong ninja to fight against the Akatsuki and actually _win_.

Tsunade knew this. So why on earth would she assign this?

He paused, then took the paper back and crumpled it into his pocket. "It's probably nothing. The Hokage would never assign something so dangerous."

"Then why would Asuma-sensei write this down like she did?"

"…I don't know, Chouji."

Ino's hand moved to rest on her hip, her eyes narrow in suspicion. The woman tossed her long ponytail over her shoulder and seemed to want to reach out and take the paper again, and she certainly wasn't going to just accept his answer. "You never 'don't know'. You always have ideas, Shikamaru."

He shrugged. "Well, yeah. But it's not impor-"

"We're a team, Shikamaru. This is about Sensei… we have a right to know."

Ino nodded in agreement, prompting the Nara to grimace. At his sour expression, the blonde rolled her eyes and snapped, "Don't you dare say it's too troublesome."

"…It's troublesome that you guys can predict my responses."

Ino groaned while Chouji gestured at the paper, dark eyes wide in concern. "Come on, just tell us what you're thinking!"

"..Okay. But not here." He looked pointedly around the room- Asuma's bedroom- and every member of Team Ten shivered. The pictures of their genin team, of the late Third Hokage, of Kurenai, of Konohamaru, the little signs here and there that reminded them so much of their sensei…

Ino and Chouji swiftly nodded in agreement, both looking away from what few signs of Asuma remained in this room to look at the hardwood floors. Shikamaru almost smiled at their almost identical reactions… almost.

Team Ten left their sensei's home together, and neither Shikamaru nor Ino called Chouji out on the fact that there was no reason to lock the door behind them. They simply stood there and let him, then trailed after him as he walked down the darkening street. None of the famous trio spoke for a while, moving along aimlessly until they reached a bridge.

Team Ten's meeting place.

It had gone from a place to convene for silly missions like grocery shopping and finding lost pets to a way to meet and train for the Chuunin Exam that had changed everything, and, finally, a place to simply meet to catch up, maybe wonder along to go for lunch or dinner, when they no longer went on many missions with their sensei.

They all paused when they came to the low bridge. A cool breeze started up, sending a few dead leaves dancing across the desolate landscape.

Ino cleared her throat, and her voice was only shaking very slightly when she turned to her teammates. "So, Shikamaru. What are you thinking?"

Shikamaru moved forward to lean back against the railing on the bridge, fingering the scrap of paper taken from Asuma's home. He had more than several theories, but he was going to keep most of them to himself until he had checked his facts. Until then… "I'm going to talk to my dad. Find a few things out. But I think we can all agree that, if the information is correct, the mission was a suicide mission. And none of the six who died would be arrogant enough to have seen it as anything else."

"But Tsunade-sama would never intentionally send any of her shinobi out to die! You know that, Shikamaru."

He nodded slightly. "Yeah. She takes the safety of Konoha ninjas very seriously. That's why this doesn't make any sense. We're missing some information here."

Chouji frowned. He sat down on the railing across from the genius and hunched over, resting his head on his hand in a sad position that was very unlike him. "Then what's the plan?"

"Like I said, I'll talk to my dad. But either the information on that paper is faulty, or… we're missing something. That's all." The real conclusion to that sentence had been that Tsaunde was not, in fact, Tsuande. That someone else was impersonating her as Hokage.

But that was so far fetched it was ludicrous. And, besides, voicing it would cause undue panic. It really would be the definition of troublesome.

No, it was simply better to not saying at all, not unless his suspicions were confirmed…

"So, what about me and Chouji? You're not expecting us to just sit around and wait for you to think. There has to be something we can do."

Shikamaru hesitated. Ino was right; there had to be something his teammates could do. And, more importantly, they would not be content to just sit around and late. This concerned Asuma. That meant it concerned all of them.

His mind drifted to the other ninja who had died on that mission. What if Asuma had not been the only one to leave behind some kind of message like this?

In fact, now that he thought about it, it seemed likely that he hadn't been.

_The missing information! _

Of course! Shikamaru was positive they were missing some critical bits of information; what if, instead of being hidden in archives in scattered about Konoha, the secrets lay in the other letters left behind by the ninja that had died? The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. Asuma had left behind a trail with this note, and he was going to be dammed if he didn't follow it. "…Actually, there is, Ino. You're friends with Hinata, right?"

The woman blinked, evidently surprised, but nodded quickly enough. "Yeah…"

"I want you to talk to her for me. See if Kurenai-sensei's letter had anything like Asuma-sensei's did. Something like asking Team Eight to go find something for her, go get something…"

Chouji's eyes widened. "You think it'll be like Asuma-sensei left for us?"

"I'm reasonably sure."

Ino gave a staunch nod, moving to stand beside Chouji so the two could look on at Shikamaru together. "You got it. We'll talk to Team Eight right away, Shika."

"And I'll go talk to my dad."

It was only when Shikamaru had nodded and Team Ten had parted ways did the Nara realize that they were all hoping for to uncover far more than a conspiracy about the mission. Somehow, hopes to see Asuma alive again had risen, unbidden, giving them all motivation and strength to continue on and investigate further.

It was dangerous to let such disillusioned thoughts continue, since Shikamaru knew that Asuma was certainly dead.

And yet, he couldn't bring himself to say this aloud. As just plain stupid as it was… he wanted Asuma back, too, and would cling to any bit of hope that meant that Team Ten could see their sensei again.

* * *

"This is really good, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka nodded his thanks and continued to alternate between playing with his food and actually eating it. He slid the slice of carrot around his plate with a chopstick, blinking at it in disinterest. He heard silence, the absence of the sound of Naruto eating, and felt the weight of his gaze land on him. Iruka paused, then slowly raised a small slice of beef to his mouth and ate it. He was rewarded by the sound of Naruto start up eating again.

A moment passed without either of them speaking, and then Iruka heard Naruto's chopsticks hit the table and concluded that his former student was done eating. Naruto kept quiet for another second, then cleared his throat. "Sakura-chan will be getting here from the hospital soon. Thanks for dinner- and I'm happy to see that you're actually eating. But why did you want to see us?"

The letter felt especially heavily at the moment. "…I'm sorry I didn't tell you two until now, but, Kakashi's letter mentioned both of you. He- he said… I could show you… well, I'll wait for Sakura to get here."

Naruto didn't speak after that.

Thankfully, it wasn't long after that- while Iruka was washing the dishes for something to do, in fact- when there was a knock at his door, symbolizing Sakura's arrival. Naruto sprang up, saying he would get it, leaving Iruka to slowly wipe his hands off on a rag and let out a shuddering breath.

It wasn't that he didn't want Naruto and Sakura to see Kakashi's face. It was that he didn't want them to just see it in a photo.

Kakashi had always told him that he wanted to see his team's reaction when they finally saw his face for the first time. _It's all in the shock value. I'll be disappointed if they see it in a file or a picture- I won't get to see how surprised they are. I do hope I'm pretty enough to make up for the fact that there's no hideous deformities, like I know Naruto's expecting, _he had joked.

Iruka sighed. He felt almost guilty for doing this. He was going to turn the triumphant moment when Team Seven was finally supposed to see their sensei's face into something sad and sorrowful, because how could they be triumphant when their sensei was dead?

"Good afternoon, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka blinked, then turned around and nodded at Sakura, wondering just how he had missed her coming inside. "Good afternoon, Sakura."

The young women shifted her weight and clasped her hands behind her back, keeping her voice quiet and unobtrusive. "It's good to see you again. I hope you've been doing well."

Iruka allowed the pleasantries to continue through a few more exchanges before Sakura cleared her throat, looking decidedly uncomfortable, and said, "Not that it's not nice to see you, but what did you need? Naruto said you wanted to talk with both of us."

"I did." Iruka swallowed the lump in his throat and crossed his small kitchen to the picture frame that was lying face down on the table, the picture he had taken out of his bedroom for this very purpose. He paused, then reached up to squeeze the cold dog tags that always hung around his neck, Kakashi's name icy against his flesh, before resting a hand on the picture. "…Kakashi did plan to let you all see his face one day. God, it seems so inconsequential now, but… he must have thought it was important, because, in his letter, he said to let you two see what he really looked like. So… I mean, if you want…"

Naruto and Sakura both stood stock still, their eyes going to the face down picture as if now realizing its purpose. The two teammates continued to stare while Iruka waited, and they did not eagerly jump to say yes as he had once imagined they would.

But, then, every time he had imagined this situation, it had been him hiding the fact the picture of Kakashi's real face from Naruto and Sakura- and Kakashi was always well and truly alive.

Iruka had never imagined this.

Finally, the two glanced at each other and nodded. "Iruka-sensei, if you want to show us, you can. It won't change how we remember him… he was Kakashi-sensei and he wears a mask. If you don't want us to see then we don't have to."

Iruka managed a small smile. Every day, Naruto seemed to become just a bit more mature and understanding. "Well, Kakashi wanted you two to see. So, I do, too. Here." He turned the picture up so it was visible.

Naruto stared at the photo in amazement. It was of his two sensei sitting in what looked like one of the training grounds, the grass covered in a thick layer of snow. There were a few flakes caught in Kakashi's silver hair and one on Iruka's nose, though neither man looked even the slightest bit cold. Both were smiling broadly, even bundled up in scarves- Kakashi's red one looked like it had once been covering the lower half of his face, but had slid down to reveal it. And it was never how Naruto had imagined it.

There were no scars, no facial deformities, no war wounds- just a visible tan line that marred his otherwise flawless pale skin. His smile was straight and even, his teeth white and all clearly there, though Sakura had once theorized that he'd lost most of them in the war and that was the reason for the mask. His nose was a bit crooked from being broken one too many times, but was human, not the dog snout that Sai had once suggested. No fish lips or buckteeth, as Team Seven had imagined the day they had made it their mission to pull down Kakashi's mask. Just a simple, happy face lit up by a boyish charm, with his dark eye crinkled up in an arc that was just as warm and genuine as his blinding smile.

He looked so surprisingly _normal._

"He's… he's beautiful," Sakura finally whispered, and her voice was thick with emotion that was not lust or even a subtle attraction. The hand touching the frame trembled as she looked up at Iruka, and Naruto did the same.

"I know we joked around a lot, but we always just assumed it was a scar, maybe from the war, but…"

Iruka just nodded weakly, continuing to stare down at the picture. He had thought the same thing. Kakashi had taken so long to show him his face, so long to pull down his mask- so many kisses had been lips to cloth, and Iruka had lost count how many times Kakashi had hesitantly asked him to wear a blindfold just so they could truly be with each other properly. Iruka hadn't been able to stop feeling just a little bit let down when he finally saw Kakahsi's true face and was met with nothing but a pretty smile and flawless features, but it fit in well with the characteristically ludicrous Copy Ninja, so he hadn't been able to complain.

That, and the fact that he had been so full of pride and happiness that Kakashi had trusted _him_ enough to let him see his real face, he hadn't wanted to do anything more than crush the man to him and never let go.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke. "You want to know why he wore the mask, don't you?"

Naruto started and looked away while Sakura's cheeks flushed a delicate pink, the young woman averting her eyes as well. "No, no, Iruka-sensei, it's okay, you don't have to tell us! Besides, if you don't think… Kaka-sensei never told us anything about himself, so, if you don't think he would have ever, then-"

"He would have," Iruka interrupted, raising his eyes to meet the two teammates'. "He trusted you both. Please don't think that he didn't. One of Kakashi's greatest worries was that you two didn't realize how much he cared about you and really, really trusted you. Talking about his past wasn't easy for him, but he always swore he would do it with you two someday. He said that he wanted you guys to know that… know that he loved you, and that seemed the easiest way without actually saying it."

None of the three were dry eyed when Iruka finally led them out to sit down on the couch so he could tell Kakashi's story in relative comfort.

"You all know the story of the White Fang of Konoha, right?"

Sakura shrugged in confirmation while Naruto nodded. "After Chiyo-baasama called him that, I asked Ero-sennin about it. He wouldn't tell me much. Just said that he used to be a Konoha hero, but then fell into disgrace after he saved his friends instead of accomplishing a mission."

"We know that he was Sensei's father, too."

Iruka nodded. He closed his eyes then, mostly so he wouldn't have to see the children's expressions. He didn't want to see their responses to what he was about to tell them. "Right. Well, you know that he's dead. …He killed himself when Kakashi was five. Kakashi was the one to find the body."

When he heard Sakura's tiny gasp and sensed Naruto recoil, he decided it had definitely been a good idea to close his eyes.

"Oh my god, that's horrible!"

Iruka winced inwardly. That had been exactly what'd he said, more or less.

He opened his mouth to continue, but the words died in his throat before he could even begin. Thoughts came to the surface, unasked for and certainly unwanted, of when Kakashi had told him this story himself. Of the look on his sad face when he'd explained how much he'd hated his father, how he just wanted someone to call him Kakashi and not the son of the White Fang, just for once. Of the self-deprecating tone when he'd scoffed how Obito's death had changed everything and then he'd just worn the mask so he wouldn't have to see his father's reflection, because it hurt too much.

The pain how he'd described going from wearing the mask for the world to wearing it just for himself.

Iruka suddenly had a hard time saying anything at all.

It just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair how much _shit_ Kakashi had had to put up with and endure, how much he'd had to suffer when he just wanted to keep his loved ones safe. Kakashi hadn't enjoyed the constant killing his lifestyle required of him, much to the contrary of what others thought. He hadn't enjoyed torturing enemy shinobi with his Sharingan, he hadn't enjoyed spying on other villages and taking out missing nin day after day like they were disposable toys- he'd hated it. He hated having to hurt so many people, kill so many men, draw so much blood- because Kakashi knew that every person he killed was someone father or son, brother or lover, friend or sensei- he hated taking away anyone's precious person… even an enemy's.

And that was why it wasn't fair. Yes, Kakashi had his faults, Iruka knew that as well as anyone- he loved to push everyone's buttons, he was a complete pervert, he made his friends worry so much and just seemed to enjoy it, the list went on and on- but he was a good person. He loved his friends and would go to the ends of the earth to protect them and his village and it still wasn't enough, it wasn't enough- he still had to _die_ for Konoha.

He had done so much for everyone but himself and it still wasn't enough for him to get to be happy, too.

For one moment, Iruka wanted to curse Konoha, curse this village and the Hokage, because Kakashi had died for them and that wasn't right. Why was their happiness worth more than his own? Why had it made Kakashi suffer so much throughout his life just to kill him when he was so young?

They had ostracized him since he was four, killed his father, his team, his sensei- and as if that wasn't enough, still expected him to be their best weapon, their best tool- god, was he nothing more than a _tool_ to them?!

A hand on Iruka's wrist snapped him out of his thoughts. He blinked, then looked up from the hand to an orange-clad arm, then slumped shoulders and a sad, sad face. "Wha…?"

Naruto frowned. "You've just been staring at that picture for the past five minutes. Sakura-chan thought it was a good idea to leave… are you all right?'

Iruka blinked, then looked away from the picture and almost laughed at the ludicrous question. Was he all right? How could he be all right?

He had never been further from it.

He felt the warm hand tug on his wrist again, and for a moment, he thought it was Kakashi. But it was all wrong; Kakashi's hand was half-covered in a glove and a little bigger, and cooler. This hand was almost hot and bare and almost adolescent in its size.

For the first time, Iruka was sorely disappointed to see Naruto's face.

God, he missed Kakashi so much it hurt.

"Iruka-sensei?"

"No, Naruto. I'm not all right."


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for the review!

* * *

It was the first time since the funeral that any of Konoha's young, grieving teams of the famed Rookie Eleven interacted. Team Eight rarely left the confines of the Hyuuga courtyard, where there was no one to bother them and they could do everything from train to sulk, their only contact with the others being the occasional visit from Neji. And everyone could see he didn't give a rat's ass about Kiba or Shino and was only there for his cousin; the young man never made any attempt to hide the fact.

Thus, the team was somewhat surprised when Ino walked in through the gate, clearly trying to hide the fact that she was there for more than just to check up on them. The blonde stood in the entrance, her hands clasped firmly behind her back, nervous eyes downcast, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other in anxiety.

Team Eight just watched her. Kiba and Shino had been caught up in a half-hearted sparring match, and Ino's arrival did little more than give them pause. The two cast her a glance before continuing on carelessly, and the visitor moved on to the Hyuuga heiress.

Hinata had been warming up for her own practice, but her movements seemed as tired and unmotivated as the others'. She, however, did cease when Ino entered, letting her Byakugon fade and her arms fall to the side. She bowed slightly, her quality of almost anxious politeness not lost, not even in her lifestyle of mourning. "Ino, welcome. Can I get you anything?"

"No thanks. I… just wanted to talk. Girl to girl, you know?"

"What about Tenten-san and Sakura-san?"

Ino rolled her eyes with a teasing smile. "What, I can't just want to talk to you?"

With a hesitant shrug, Hinata led her friend away from Kiba and Shino to sit together under the shade of the wall, Hinata watching Ino out of the corner of her eye. She seemed remarkably well off for someone who was mourning the death of her sensei, Yes, tired, yes, distracted- but, overall, normal. Certainly better off than the members of Team Eight.

Hinata had to wonder just why on earth Ino was here, but while she was the type to honestly just want to 'talk'- or gossip- now wasn't the time, and anyway, the blonde always did that with Sakura. Never with her.

"Where are Shikamaru and Chouji?" she asked, probing to ascertain Ino's real reason for visiting while, at the same time, genuinely curious.

The blonde shrugged at the mention of her teammates, tucking a strand of rogue hair behind her ear with a jerky hand. "Um… not sure. Shikamaru's doing something with his dad, and Chouji… probably eating. Who knows." She laughed, but it sounded forced.

Hinata frowned. The reply was entirely to normal for this situation- it sounded like nothing was wrong… like no one had died. Ino was speaking as if it were just any other day. "All right…" she trailed off hesitantly, frowning in confusion. Ino was still a bit jumpy and nervous, but Hinata really wasn't sure what to expect. The entire situation confused her.

A moment passed in rather uncomfortable silence, then Ino looked at her out of the corner of her eye and cleared her throat. "Say, Hinata… I was wondering, earlier… did Kurenai-sensei ever tell you three about how she and Sensei were…"

"Involved? Yes. …In her letter." Hinata wondered just when she had become more comfortable at discussing romance than _Ino_, the village matchmaker, the woman who jumped at the chance to pair off her best friends and had been working right along with Kiba to get their two sensei together. Everything was upside down now.

Ino chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that's how As- Asuma-sensei told us, too." Her voice quivered a bit when she said his name, but, other than that, her facade that everything was fine didn't once waver. "Yeah, he was never very good at social anything. We should've expected to find out through a letter… well, not _that_ letter. But, that aside- see, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

Hinata blinked in surprise. In all honesty, she and the others had expected their teachers' relationship to be the first topic of discussion when they inevitably ran into Team Ten, but not like this. Ino didn't sound accusatory or even urgent, but there was something about her voice that was wrong. She seems to be trying very hard to put off a nonchalant air, but the way her hand tapped anxiously by her hip, it was very clear that it was just an act.

"What do you mean, Ino?"

"Well, Sensei's letter was a little bit… lacking in details. We- my team and I- want to know more. Like, how long they were seeing each other, if they were really serious- marriage, that whole deal- and, well… we wondered if you would know anything. After all, Kurenai-sensei was always a little more open than Asuma-sensei."

Ino's smile was a bit too innocent and bland for Hinata to take at face value. As much as Ino loved to dabble in romance, she wasn't prone to displaying Sakura's immaturity in the matter- that is, prioritizing it even in a crisis. She knew full well that Ino didn't have much care for romance right now, not when her sensei was dead. Hinata knew that Kurenai's relationship was the last thing on _her_ mind right now.

"If you're really interested, then I'm afraid I can't be of much help, Ino." She shrugged apologetically. "All we know is that Kurenai-sensei has been seeing him since we were in the Academy."

Ino didn't look remotely interested in the information. Instead, she just bit her lip and sighed, seeming a little frustrated before carefully rearranging her features into a curious mask once again. "Oh. She told you that in the letter? Hmm… um, well… do you think I could see it? Just to read it for myself."

Hinata stared in surprise. Her eyes flicked towards where the scroll was lying, seemingly abandoned, and her hands clenched. That letter wasn't for Team Ten or anyone else. Just her, Kiba, and Shino. She didn't want to let Ino read it, especially when she was clearly hiding her real reasons for this entire venture. But when she opened her mouth, her anger faltered as her familiar anxiety reared up again and she swallowed, suddenly wary that she was overstepping the bounds of their friendship and her stance as a member of Kurenai's team. "W-why? I've already told you what it said… I'm not hiding anything, Ino."

"No, no, I'm not saying that you are!" Ino laughed nervously, her voice going up almost an octave in her anxiety. "I just meant that- that- that-"

"-you've been lying this entire time?"

Ino jumped, looking over to see that Kiba and Shino had stopped fighting to listen and were now approaching her, both men watching her suspiciously. She shifted uneasily and climbed to her feet. "W-what do you mean?"

Kiba shrugged while Akamaru barked loudly. "It's rather blindingly obvious."

"That is because you are, simply put, acting as if you are hiding something.'

Ino glanced between the three nervously for a moment longer, then rolled her eyes and raised her hands in surrender. "Damn. I _told_ Shikamaru we should just trust you three, but noooo, he goes on and on about 'it's troublesome, Ino, it's too troublesome, no, don't do it, troublesome troublesome troublesome…' ugh! I should've known. Typical man. Even though he's a damn genius, he's a moron when it comes to personal relationships. Screw it. Look, if you don't want to show me the letter, you don't have to, I get it. The thing is, Asuma-sensei… left us a confusing message with his letter. We don't know if it means anything or not, and Shikamaru was curious if anyone of the others were in the same situation as us. That's all."

Team Eight watched her carefully, none of the three seeming to entirely believe her. Hinata was chewing on her lower lip and shifting her weight nervously, as if she had idea what to think, while Kiba and Akamaru were glowering down at her and Shino- well, Shino was as unreadable as ever. It was the bug user himself who spoke first, and at least it showed he was willing to give her a chance. "What exactly do you mean by 'a confusing message'?"

It was Ino's turn to bite her lip. Whether she agreed with Shikamaru or not, the fact of the matter was, he was _always_ right when it came to the best plan. He had advised her not to tell them, not unless they ended up having a message from Kurenai just like their message from Asuma. And she was hesitant to go against Shikamaru's advice… especially because this was _Asuma_. She didn't want to botch up some plan he had just waiting to be put into motion. After all, he'd made it perfectly clear in his last words that Shikamaru was the leader of their trio. Should she go against his advice?

Well, he hadn't given it in the form of an order- and she knew, without a doubt, that she trusted Shino, Kiba, and Hinata. Almost as much as she trusted Shikamaru…

But, in the end, it came down to whether or not she trusted Team Eight not to betray her. And she did.

Ino breathed deeply and offered up a small smile to the team standing before her, every member still watching her curiously. "Okay. I trust you three. That's why I'm going against Shikamaru's advice not to tell you. …You have a right to know, anyways, if the information was correct."

"If what information was correct? Ino, you're not making sense."

"…Asuma-sensei's letter asked Shikamaru to go track down some 'Sarutobi heirloom' to give to Konohamaru. Shika had no idea what he was talking about and we went to his house together. There was no heirloom… but where Sensei said it would be was… w-was the mission details for- you know… _that_ mission. His last one."

Team Eight all stared at her in surprise. The Rookie Eleven had all been informed, in no uncertain terms, that the mission that had killed their four-jounin sensei was classified. No one was allowed to know just _what_ it was- not even Raidou, and he was a member of the Hokage's personal guard with ANBU level security clearance. Tsunade had absolutely refused to explain a thing and simply said that it would do them no good to know- after all, it had brought down the six strongest ninja Konoha had to offer, what did the Rookie Eleven hope to accomplish that their sensei had not?

Just because they weren't allowed to know, however, did not mean they all did not _need_ to know how their sensei had died.

The urgency that made their eyes go wide, all three taking a step forward eagerly before they controlled their reaction made Ino wish she had never considered hiding this from them. Not just Team Eight- Team Seven and Team Gai deserved to know, too.

Ino cleared her throat and answered before they had to ask.

"If we believe that paper… their mission was to attack the Akatsuki and kill as many members as possible. …'Returning alive was not a priority'."

* * *

Shikaku didn't answer his son's question for one long moment, and when he finally did speak, his voice was cautious and guarded. "That's classified, son. You know that. …However, the fact that Hokage-sama did not consult me is _not _classified. That is all I know."

Shikamaru frowned darkly.

Tsunade frequently consulted his father when it came to very dangerous S-ranks. She would go to him with everything, from the most strategic team to send to whether or not the mission was too risky to even assign. They had talked for over an hour before agreeing to send Naruto out on the recovery of the Kazekage mission. Therefore, Shikamaru was positive that the Hokage would never assign any mission concerning the Akatsuki- especially the suicide one detailed by Asuma's message- without consulting his father.

And yet, she had.

_Why?_

* * *

As it turned out, Team Ten was not the only group with a message to decipher. Team Eight had one, too.

The hitai-ate mentioned in Kurenai's letter did not exist, same as the Sarutobi heirloom. In fact, the Yuuhi tradition Kurenai had written of was not real- at least, not as far as Hinata had been able to research. Chouji had uncovered the same problem when researching Sarutobi traditions and finding no mention of any heirloom.

While there was nothing next to Team Eight's photograph at the head of Kurenai's bed, as the letter had claimed, there was a crinkle of paper sticking out of the frame that had not been there before. And the three members of Team Eight had all focused on it in an instant, latching onto the hope of his being a part of Asuma's conspiracy, of some kind of plan…

The paper was a folded up map of the Five Great Nations. Their excitement was temporarily tamed, but rose right up again when they realized there was something written on the paper in Kurenai's distinctive neat handwriting. She had outlined what had once been Sound territory, before the village had disbanded, its leader a man wanted by the Five Great Hidden Villages, and circled a seemingly innocuous spot near its northern borders. Next to the circle was written:

_Tsunade's last known location- here on June 4th, 96 years after the founding_

_Written on September 16th, 96 years after the founding_

The message was ten times more cryptic and ten times less enlightening as Asuma's. Particularly because all three members of the team were very aware that Tsunade was in the Hokage Tower, and it was three months after the map claimed she was last seen near Sound territory.

The three looked from the paper to each other for a moment, then Shino quickly folded it up and put it in his pocket. "We need to talk with Team Ten."

Kiba nodded swiftly and Akamaru barked in agreement.

Together, the team left Kurenai's apartment to where the second generation of Ino-Shika-Cho was waiting faithfully outside. Shikamaru took one look at them and nodded in comprehension, then waved them forward. "Onwards, then."

"Yeah," Kiba muttered and, together, the two teams set off.

* * *

They had already decided that, whatever was going on, there was a reason their sensei had made the trail as hard to follow as they had. Shikamaru had said that, if Kurenai had indeed left behind a message, then they would wait to discuss the situation until they were in private- and nothing was better than the Hyuuga compound.

Well, actually, there were many more places private than the Hyuuga compound- the Nara household, for one- but, as Shikamaru had explained, there was no guarantee they wouldn't be spied on. The Hyuuga were a royal clan and had their own staff watching over their home- any ANBU spying on them as well would be noticed and kicked out immediately.

The sun had already set by the time the small group convened in the Hyuuga courtyard that had become Team Eight's training grounds these ever since the funeral. They had ordered takeout- Chouji had wept at that, bemoaning the fact that meeting wasn't located at his favored barbecue place, prompting a groan or two and a chuckle. The moment their containers of dinner had arrived, they had locked the gate, Hinata had abashedly sent a guard or two to watch the doors for them, and their meeting had begun.

"The way I see it, we have two responsibilities," Shikamaru announced, waving the chicken clutched in his chopsticks as if to punctuate his statement. "The first- in my mind, the most important- is to get Team Seven and Team Gai in on this to. Whatever's going on, I doubt that this just involves our two teams. After all, Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei died on that mission, too."

"What about those other two? That Yamato guy and um… Genma, I think? You think they're involved, too?"

Shikamaru nodded to Kiba. "I'm certain of it. But they don't have genin teams for us to go to and we don't know who received their letters- there's no way of knowing if we can trust them or not. It's not our first priority."

"Then, what about our second responsibility?"

He smirked. "Follow the trail they left behind, of course. Tomorrow, we can get in contact with the other teams. Can we all agree that we can trust them?"

One by one, the members of the small group nodded, the flickering torchlight casting shadows on their faces. Only Kiba showed any sign of hesitance, and he quickly explained himself. "Team Gai, fine. Team Seven… depends who you're talking about there. The members of that team have been all over the place. Naruto and Sakura- of course. But that emotionless freak, Sai? Come on. How much do we know about him, really?"

Akamaru growled, and none of the others seemed to want to contradict the pair. In fact, they seemed to half agree with him. Ino had learned her lesson about trusting wholeheartedly cute boys with emotional issues, and the others were not at all eager to simply welcome another into this group, not when it concerned a mission that they would not risk failure in. This was the last thing left to them by their sensei- failure was not an option.

Shikamaru paused, deep in thought. "Mmm… you've certainly got a point. I don't particularly trust him myself. And there's no reason we have to include him. So, we're all agreed- Team Gai, Naruto, Sakura, and no one else?"

This time, there were no complaints, and he sighed before sliding another piece of meat into his mouth. Chouji had already devoured his meal and was looking a bit mournful there wasn't anymore for him, but his sadness transformed into joy when Ino noticed and handed him part of her dinner. "Go on, go on. I'm on a diet, anyway."

"When aren't you on a diet, Ino?"

Ino glared pointedly at Kiba. "That's none of your business!"

He shrugged. "I'm not trying to be insulting, but, seriously! Hinata here never seems to be on a diet, but you never seem to look thinner than her!"

Blood rushed to Hinata's face while Ino's eyes went wide, and she looked like she was about to throw what remained of her dinner at the far too talkative Inuzuka. "S-shut up! You insensitive moron!"

Shikamaru chuckled as the informal meeting nearly fell apart right then and there. Ino was glaring daggers at Kiba, Hinata seemed like she was about to pass out, Chouji's face was buried in his dinner, and Shino was merely sitting back and watching it all in what could've been anything from amusement to hatred, Shikamaru couldn't tell with his goggles on and his collar pulled up. He cleared his throat before things got too out of hand, smiling as he said, "Let's not tear each other apart until later, shall we?"

Ino glared but returned her attention to the matter at hand while Kiba just shrugged, oblivious. Still grinning, Shikamaru continued. "Okay. So, until we've contacted the others, what information do we have? The mission details, from Asuma-sensei…"

"And Tsunade-sama's last known location, from Kurenai-sensei," Kiba added. "About that. That date on the map, when it was written- isn't that…"

"Yes, the same date that Asuma-sensei and the others left on their mission. Or, according to the mission details, a day after it was assigned. So, Kurenai-sensei wrote out that map the day they left. But why?"

"That's Shino's department."

Shino sighed, clearly unamused. "I can not answer why. However, if I may- it says that no one has seen the Hokage since June 6th, this year. However, we have all seen her just this past week. And this note was written _after_ they were assigned their mission… but the Hokage assigns all S-ranks. Therefore, Tsaunde-sama was in the village and her location was known when Kurenai-sensei wrote out this map. Why would she would write this?"

Nothing but silence answered him. They had all reached this same conclusion, but only Shikamaru had taken it past that. The Nara paused, not wanting to be the one to say this- but it was clear he would have to be one to speak up. "I actually have an idea, Shino."

He told them what he already learned from his father, and he could see it starting to dawn on them, but no one dared to say it, not yet.

"Tsunade did not consult my father before assigning a mission that would undoubtedly lead to the death of Konoha shinobi. Then we find information that points to Tsunade's 'last known location' being somewhere near Sound- _two months ago_. There is only one thing we can draw from this- our esteemed Hokage is not, in fact, our Hokage."

The first meeting of genin teams deteriorated into complete shock and disarray. It took Shikamaru almost ten minutes- with many, many mutters of 'troublesome, troublesome, far too troublesome' along the way- to calm the uproar down into something controllable. Considering the fact there were only five others, with two of the most untalkative people in Konoha among them, that was certainly enough to make Shikamaru wish he had just kept quiet.

"Look, look, everyone just calm down-"

"You just accused the Hokage of being an impersonator, how can you-"

"You moron, it's _Tsunade_, no on would dare to-"

"...Why? Because she is the Hokage, and it would be risky for any enemy-"

"I don't know, I- munch munch- trust the Hokage- munch munch- she's always-"

"All right! Everybody, calm down!" Shikamaru waited until he was sure the group wasn't about to break out into discussion again before he spread his hands out and tried to ease the group's collective anxiety. "I'm not suggesting that Orochimaru's killed Tsunade and taken her place and is planning to kill us all in the night. Just that we should do some checking and make sure it really was Tsunade who came home from whatever she was doing that close to Sound territory."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Well, that's an audacious claim to make, Shika. You can't blame us for going all out on you."

"Thought you were going to tear me apart for a minute there…"

"But that would've been troublesome, right?"

Shikamaru grimaced at Kiba's words before allowing the group to move on. "Look, until we've gotten the others here, we shouldn't talk anymore on this. This is their business, too. So, tomorrow… Ino, can you talk with Sakura for me? Find out about Kakashi-sensei's letter?"

"Of course."

"And, Hinata- can you do the same with Neji?"

Hinata nodded quickly without a hint of her usual hesitation, and Shikamaru sighed. "Good. …Tomorrow night, same time, same place?"

Five nods and a bark answered him. Shikamaru smiled, pleased. "Then I'll see you all tomorrow night… at the risk of making this sound too much like a field operation- everyone, disperse."


	6. Chapter 6

Hinata's discussion with Neji did not go very well at all.

It took place later that night, when Neji returned home from training with the same tired look about him that had been his only expression since the funeral. He didn't look in the mood to talk; in fact, he simply bowed slightly to Hinata and gave his customary good night before proceeding to his own room. Hinata had paused, not sure if she should follow him or not- after all, he seemed very tired… perhaps she should just let him rest…?

No, she couldn't think like that. She had to see this as a mission. Because that's what it was- a mission. It was her _duty_ to find out if Gai-sensei had requested anything from his team that was part of whatever conspiracy was going on. She couldn't afford to be hesitant about this and chicken out, though she was very aware such behavior was her greatest fault.

Hinata shifted her weight uncertainly outside her cousin's room before raising a pale hand to knock, and it was only with thoughts of Kurenai-sensei that she didn't turn and flee to escape this.

"Enter."

With a shaky breath, Hinata opened Neji's door and took a small step inside his room. He looked as if he had been about to go to sleep before her arrival; his weapons were all set neatly by the door, instead of his uniform he wore a pale yukata, his hair was let loose of his usual ponytail, and he had already removed his headband to reveal the light green seal across his forehead. The sight of it almost made her backpedal, as the curse always reminded her of when Neji had not been so approachable, of when he had tried to kill her during their first Chuunin Exam- of what he and his father had gone through for the sake of her family. It always made her feel guilty and the idea of trying to interrogate him now suddenly felt wrong.

"Hinata-sama? What is it?"

"Oh! Um… well… I… u-um…"

Neji frowned. "Hinata-sama, if you need my assistance with something, please do not hesitate to ask."

"No, it's not that…" She shook her head and felt all her previous resolve flee at the sight of him. "I, um… ah…"

"Yes?"

"I…"

"…If this is about Kurenai-sensei, I'm afraid I won't be of much help."

Hinata stiffened. _Kurenai-sensei…_ God, what was she doing? She was letting her own nervousness come in and get in the way of Kurenai-sensei's plan. How could she do this? This was for Kurenai. What was her _problem?_

Hinata swallowed back her anxiety and shook her head, glad she managed to do so firmly and that her voice was steady when she spoke. "Actually, Neji-niisan, I think you can. It's about Gai-sensei's letter… the one you received when he was killed in action."

It was Neji's turn to stiffen. He frowned immediately and his gaze turned colder, no longer blankly curious like before. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again and slowly gestured for her to continue.

Her once bold stance was wavering now. "My team, as well as Team Ten, both received certain… instructions in ours. They led to some strange pieces of information that were clearly left just for us, and we wanted to know if Gai-sensei did something similar."

"…I'm not sure what type of 'instructions' you are talking about, Hinata-sama, but there was none of that in his letter. And I don't know what you and Team Ten are playing at, but I would advise against it. Our sensei are dead. It is unlikely they would leave behind some secret trail for us to follow."

Where had her confidence come from, again? All Neji had to do was calmly discredit her and then, bam, there it went- gone. "P-please, Neji-niisan… if there was anything Gai-sensei asked you to do… Kurenai-sensei said she wanted me to have her first hitai-ate, that's how she got me her message- and Asuma-sensei told Shikamaru-kun to get the Sarutobi heirloom! Please, Neji-niisan, are you sure?"

Neji blinked. Hinata watched hopefully as her cousin paused and looked away, seeming deep in thought, feeling her strength rush back now that he was no longer arguing against her. Kurenai-sensei's plan… maybe, with Neji and Team Gai, it would all become clear!

He tilted his head to the side and met her eyes once again. "…Actually, Gai-sensei may have left us something. I'm not sure, I don't have the letter- Lee does. But I'll have to speak with my team about it."

"Of course, I understand, Neji-niisan." Hinata bowed slightly and smiled, trying to control her smile. _Yes, yes, Kurenai-sensei, yes, we're figuring it out! _"If you could please do so tomorrow? …We're trying to meet again tomorrow night, so, it would be convenient."

"We?"

"Oh- Team Eight and Team Ten. And Team Seven, if Ino succeeds. She's talking to them tonight or tomorrow morning."

"I see." Neji nodded slightly, but just as Hinata began to step back towards the door again, he stopped her. "Hinata-sama, may I ask you something?"

"O-of course."

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was low and controlled and made it clear she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "I agreed to this because it seems slightly suspicious that Gai-sensei left us a message in the same manner that Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei left you messages. But, by your reaction… you are hoping that Kurenai-sensei is alive, aren't you?"

His words made her heart constrict and her blood run cold. No, of course not, the thought hadn't crossed her mind, she was just doing this for Sensei, it was Kurenai-sensei's _plan_, how could she not do it, it was just that simple-

God, she was even lying to herself. Neji was right.

Team Eight had so willingly latched onto the plot Team Ten had told them about because if there _was _a plot, if not everything was as it seemed, then Kurenai…

She could still be alive.

Hinata shifted uneasily and looked away, clasping her suddenly shaking hands behind her back. She didn't want to speak up and confirm what Neji had just said… but it was true.

He took her lack of speech as a confirmation and nodded slightly. "That's what I thought. Listen… I wish as much as you do that they were not dead. But what happened, happened. They were loyal Konoha shinobi and were willing to die for this village. Whatever this so-called plan is, if it even exists- they are still dead, Hinata-sama. Lee… Lee is having enough trouble accepting that as it is. If this work jeopardizes that, I will be forced to remove Team Gai from this scheme. I hope there will be no hard feelings."

Hinata shivered. It was clearly not meant to be taken by a threat, but the fact that he said it all made her almost, almost accept that Kurenai-sensei was dead, too.

But she didn't.

Kurenai-sensei had always believed in her, and so she was going to return the favor and believe that she was alive, no matter what evidence there was to the contrary.

She nodded firmly at Neji and bowed slightly, keeping her expression unreadable. "I understand, Neji-niisan. Of course, your team comes first. If it becomes too much for Lee to handle, please feel free to withdraw your support."

"Yes, Hinata-sama." Neji hesitated, as if he wished to say something else, then shut his mouth and settled for casting his eyes to the floor and bowing in respect. "Is that all you wished to discuss?"

"Yes. …We meet in the courtyard tomorrow night at eight. Please bring Tenten-san and Lee-kun along, as well as the message, if you manage to find it."

"I will, Hinata-sama."

Hinata could feel his eyes on her back as she turned and left and did her best not to shiver again.

* * *

Ino's talk with Sakura was of a less depressing nature than Hinata's with Neji. She simply approached her friend in her office down at the hospital, hesitated for a bit, then came out with the blunt truth, sparing nothing. Years of working with Chouji had taught her that speaking in riddles and playing with her words in some vague hope that the other person would somehow figure it out for themselves without her having to explain was a truly hopeless venture.

"Hinata's talking with Neji and Team Three. Shikamaru asked me to talk with you about Team Seven. And by Team Seven, I mean you and Naruto, not Sai. Okay?"

Sakura glanced up at her absently while filling out the form on her desk. "I suppose that's okay. As long as you're not expecting me to keep any secrets from Naruto."

"No, of course not. We want him involved in this, too- Shikamaru just thought it'd be easier to see what you knew first then to talk with you both at once. See… we need to know what was in… Kakashi-sensei's letter."

The look on Sakura's face would've been comical in another situation. Ino hurried to explain the situation with Team Eight and her own team, how the messages they left behind were clearly anything but innocuous bits of random information. She spelled out Shikamaru's theory that it had to be more than just Asuma and Kurenai who had left behind these strange messages and that Neji was hopefully talking with his team right now, then smiled and met Sakura's eye.

"Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei both left these messages in the letters we received after… that mission. Shikamaru thinks it's likely Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei did this, too. …Sensei asked Shikamaru to find some old family heirloom, Kurenai-sensei asked Hinata to recover her hitai-ate from her home, if it helps? Probably a request for Naruto to go… I don't know, track down some old porn book of his? I don't know much about him."

Sakura hesitated. She considered the question more than the reason behind it, most because she didn't want to consider the implications of these new developments. After a moment, she leaned back in her chair and leaned her head against her hand, thinking. "Well, for one, Ino- we don't have the letter. It was addressed to Iruka-sensei. If there's any message in there, it would be for him to find. I think Naruto told me he might have mentioned something about... feeding his dogs?"

Ino brightened. "Really? Did he do it? What was the-"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. And I'm not too sure I can. He's… Iruka-sensei has not been well. And I'm not really very close with him. I can't just go up there and ask him without any explanation!"

The two friends fell silent for a brief moment, contemplating what exactly they are supposed to do now- but it seemed that fate had decided that they couldn't even be afforded a second's worth of peace.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

Ino and Sakura both looked over at the door, which had just opened to reveal Anko. She looked her usual blunt, unapologetic self, eyebrows raised expectantly and a scrap of paper in her hand. "Isn't anyone going to say come in? I feel unwelcome."

Sakura scowled. She wasn't in the mood for this. "What do you want, Anko?"

The woman licked her lips, showcasing her abnormally long tongue and seeming to enjoy the discomfort it brought. "So impolite. And I just came with a message for you, Sakura."

"For me?"

"What, did I stutter? Yes, for you." She rolled her eyes and tossed herself into a chair without waiting for an invitation. "Kids these days. So slow. Anyway, here. Yamato's letter led me to it. Mind enlightening me?"

Sakura and Ino both stared in shock. Their eyes widened in the same moment, and Sakura's mouth opened and shut several times before she finally stammered, "Y-Yamato-taichou's _letter?!_"

Anko narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Yeeeees. What don't you get, the fact that I knew old Yammy or that this message is for you? Seriously."

Sakura stared at the paper for a moment longer, then cast all questions aside and reached out to snatch it."Potassium permanganate and aluminum potassium sulfate dodecahydrate?' Um… " _Is this what Ino was talking about? _"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Anko shrugged at Sakura's blank expression. "How should I know? It was addressed to you."

Ino, meanwhile, was craning her neck to try and see the paper herself. "Sakura, do you know what that is? Does it mean anything to you?"

She shrugged, still examining the paper with narrowed eyes. "I don't know what the hell this is. But it says it's from Tsunade-sama; I'm going to go ask her."

Ino frowned at the mention of the Hokage, but Anko raised her hand to stop Sakura even as she stood. "Now, that just takes the fun out of it, don't you think?"

"…What are you talking about?"

Anko shrugged and leaned back in the chair, making herself at home. "Well, it doesn't say to deliver it to Tsunade, does it? It says it's for you. To be used against that motherfucker, Danzou. My point is, Yamato had this for some reason, even though it says it's from Tsunade. Got any clue as to what it's about?"

Sakura slowly set the piece of paper down on her desk, her eyes locked with Ino's all the while. The blonde watched her carefully, her mind racing, then shot a blinding smile in Anko's direction. When she spoke, it was a clear dismissal. "Thank you for the message, Anko-san! We'll definitely get back to you if we find out anything."

Anko stared at her blankly, then snorted. "What was that? Was that supposed to be convincing? Sweetheart, I'm not a teenage boy, that won't work on me. And, if I were, it still wouldn't- you need a wink and a lot more boobs to pull that off!"

Ino stared while Sakura stiffened, then involuntarily crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, a red tint to her cheeks as she slumped back in her chair. Anko let out a bark of a laugh and stood rolling her eyes. "You call yourself shinobi and can't take a little sexual harassment? I am so going to have to up the challenges on the next Chuunin Exam I run. Maybe I'll talk Ibiki into loaning me that creepy guy from ANBU with the molester face."

Sakura and Ino both watched with identical expressions of open-mouthed amazement while the violet-haired ninja sighed and headed to the door. "Well, ta ta, you two. When you finish baking cupcakes and playing hopscotch, maybe skip along to my place and tell me what that note was about? I'd appreciate it."

"Wha-"

"See ya!"

Sakura and Ino both blinked as the door shut, the crass, harsh woman on the other side. They stayed silent, stunned, then Ino sighed and shook her head.

"Damn. Now I kind of want a cupcake."

"Oh, for god's sakes, Ino!"

Ino shrugged helplessly while Sakura just leaned back in her chair and interlocked her fingers behind her head, gazing up at the ceiling. "Okay, I don't know why the hell Anko had Yamato-taichou's letter, but… this definitely seems to tie in with you guys had discovered so far."

"Oh yeah. Definitely. Bring it along tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. You and Naruto are coming to the Hyuuga place, tonight, at eight. Whatever's going on, it's pretty hush hush- we don't want anyone eavesdropping. And the Hyuuga compound is as secure as it gets. We can talk about what to do about Iruka-sensei there."

* * *

The next meeting to take place in the Hyuuga courtyard was much more disorganized than the first. Instead of an informal gathering of six sitting around containers of takeout and discussing the situation in quiet voices, now, a stream of eleven mostly loud and confused ninja had filed into the courtyard, countless delivery boxes from Ichiraku's were lying about on the ground, and there was little to nothing being discussed about that was of any importance.

"I should've known this would've happened-"

"It's your fault for asking the newcomer to get the food!"

"But I wanted barbecue-"

"Hey! What's wrong with ramen?!"

"Nothing, just not ten times a week-"

"E-everyone, please, we have to be quiet or my father will-"

"I knew this would be troublesome…"

"Lee, what the hell are you doing _now_, of all-"

"Training is youthful! Train train train! Youth! For the power of-"

"_Channaro!_"

The sound of Sakura's earsplitting punch to the ground brought about silence. The Rookie Eleven's loud discourse ceased while Shikamaru sighed in relief, the Nara relaxing to lean back against the wall. "Thank you, Sakura."

The kunoichi smiled sweetly sat right next to the large crack she had created and, slowly, the other ninjas all turned to Shikamaru, who seemed to somehow have become the leader of the group. He grimaced, seeming a bit unhappy that everyone's attention was on him, then sighed and interlocked his fingers behind his head. "Okay. Welcome, Team Three and Team Seven. You know what's going on here, right?"

Four nods and a fist pump answered him, and Shikamaru had to resist an eye roll at Lee's enthusiasm before he turned to Team Three. "All right. You guys first. Did Gai-sensei leave you a message?"

Neji spoke before Lee could, and it looked like he'd been planning on it- the Hyuuga was speaking before Shikamaru had even closed his mouth, and Lee looked a little surprised before he just blinked and let his teammate go. "We believe so, yes. However, Gai-sensei requested that we travel to a place we once stayed at in Grass Country. We haven't been assigned a mission that took us out of the village yet- never mind something out to Grass Country."

Shikamaru clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth in disappointment while the others gave sighs or grimaces at the information. "A bit inconvenient."

"We go back onto active duty in two days," Tenten added helpfully. "The first mission any one of us gets that takes us out there, we were going to check it out- now we'll just be sure too."

"Yes! We will most certainly find Gai-sensei's youthful message! I swear it or I will walk two hundred laps around Konoha on my hands!"

"Lee, that is so unnecessary!"

Neji just sighed at his teammates' outbursts, looking a bit unhappy about the situation himself. He cast a worried look in Lee's direction before he shifted to look back at Shikamaru, absently poking the vegetables in his ramen with a chopstick. The Nara nodded in slight appreciation, then turned to Naruto and Sakura. "Well, any luck with you two?"

"Yes and no." Sakura withdrew a scrap of paper from her weapon's pouch and set it down in the middle of their small circle, where it was retrieved by the Nara. "That's actually not from Kakashi-sensei. It's from Yamato-taichou. Anko had his letter, for some reason- by the way she phrased it, he led her to this the same way Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei led you guys to what they left behind. But that doesn't mean I have any idea what it means."

Shikamaru only gave the paper a cursory glance before he sighed and passed it around the circle so everyone could read it. "Well, it's addressed to you, and I can't make heads or tails of it. If anyone else can, speak up- but, otherwise, I want you to work on it, Sakura. Everyone here knows who Danzou is, right?"

The entire group nodded darkly as one. They had all heard the stories, either from Naruto himself or listening in on discussions their parents and sensei had- they knew Danzou's name meant nothing good. Shikamaru nodded, then looked back to Naruto and Sakura. "What about Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruto shrugged limply, finally dropping his chopsticks into an empty bowl. "…We don't have his letter. Iruka-sensei does. And if there was anything in there meant for me or Sakura, he would have told us."

"So, any message he left… it's for Iruka-sensei to find?"

Naruto and Sakura nodded, which drew yet another sigh from Shikamaru. "Ugh… and here I was, thinking this couldn't get any worse."

"Before you say this is all too troublesome, what do you think we should do? He may not be one of us Rookie Eleven, but… I think we can trust him."

"What? Of course we can trust him!" Naruto exclaimed. "What, that was the problem? Of course we can trust Iruka-sensei! Right, guys?"

In the midst of the chorus of agreement, Neji sat up a bit straighter and raised his hand as if to attract attention. "I don't think we're talking about whether or not we can trust Iruka-sensei not to run and tattle to an enemy. We're keeping these meetings a secret from _everyone_- and that includes other Konoha ninja. That's the whole reason we're having these meetings here- so ANBU can not eavesdrop. Right? Iruka-sensei may not agree with us that this is something we must keep from the Hokage."

"Neji is right. This is certainly something we must keep silent- particularly from Tsaunde-sama."

Shikamaru nodded at Shino's words with a grimace. "I hate to admit it, but he's right."

Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked between his friends in surprise, relieved to find that he clearly wasn't the only one disagreed with the way the discussion had gone. "Hey! If we just talk to him, I'm sure he'll understand!"

"Yeah, Naruto's right! Just because he's not one of the Rookie Eleven doesn't mean he'll run along and tattle!"

"Woof woof!"

Neji sighed heavily. "I know Iruka-sensei is a popular character. That does not mean we should trust him indiscriminately."

"Just because he's not a member of our group doesn't mean we _shouldn't_ trust him, though!"

Naruto and Neji watched each other for a long moment before Shikamaru just sighed loudly. "This, my friends, is an impasse."

"So, what, then? Are we a democracy now? Do we vote?"

Shikamaru shrugged at Tenten's question and closed his eyes as the group erupted into the predictable argument over what was the beset way to settle it. It didn't take long at all to collapse into an utter disaster, and soon, he wouldn't have been surprised if the news drew the attention of the Hyuuga guards. Why had he thought this was a good idea, again?

Finally, Sakura screamed for quiet again, accompanied with another powerful punch. "We're not getting anywhere like this!" she yelled, then turned to Shikamaru with more than an extraordinarily irritated look in her eyes, and snapped, "Everyone seems to be turning to you, here, so what do you think? How the hell are we supposed to settle this? If it matters, I agree with Naruto- we can trust Iruka-sensei."

Shikamaru pursed his lips. It would've been nice, he thought, to let responsibility fall to someone else for a change, it really would've. Why were they all looking to him? He hadn't asked to be made leader of this little informal rebel group. "Maa… this is so troublesome… I suppose we could put it to a vote. All for tell Iruka-sensei, raise your hands."

He wasn't wholly surprised when a majority complied immediately. Naruto, Sakura, Lee, Kiba, Chouji, and Hinata. In fact, Shikamaru was rather surprised that it wasn't a clear majority- he had expected Tenten to side with Naruto's group. But, then, he didn't really know her very well. And Ino, too- but then, she had never been close with Iruka and was getting a more objective view of things as the years went by. Perhaps she was getting wiser than he gave her credit for.

"Well, it's decided then. We do tell Iruka-sensei. Naruto, that'll be your job- but don't just blurt it out! Make sure he understands he can't tell anyone else what's going on. And do it tomorrow. I don't want to waste much time."

"Got it, dattebayo."

Shikamaru nodded, satisfied. "Good. Now… Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei, being taken care of- and now we've suddenly got this letter from Yamato. Naruto and Sakura, you two are the only ones here with any interaction with him at all- so can you think of what that might mean? Or is it really just a chemical formula?"

Sakura shrugged carefully while Naruto frowned, gesturing at the slip of paper. "Well, I don't know what it means- but Sai might. He worked with Yamato-taichou and under Danzou. He could know, why don't we just ask him? …In fact, why isn't he here now?"

The others exchanged uncomfortable looks while Sakura blinked, as if she had just realized the fact that Sai wasn't present. Both members of Team Seven picked up on the awkward silence and pounced on it, Naruto leaning forward anxiously while Sakura crossed her arms and turned to look at Ino suspiciously. "Ino didn't mention that he was invited."

Ino scratched the base of her ponytail uncomfortably and averted her eyes while the others avoided looking at Naruto or Sakura. The two turned to Shikamaru, who gave a very loud groan at the fact that he had somehow been elected to speak- again. "Before you get on my case, none of us know Sai very well. We didn't know if we _could_ trust him. Our only interaction with him has been through you. We didn't want to invite him to come along, then find out you really didn't trust him."

"Well, you can," Naruto said firmly. "He won't sell us out to anyone."

"Yeah. We trust him. Maybe in the beginning we wouldn't have, but he's changed. He's our friend, Shikamaru!"

"Even if you vouch for him, the rest of us don't know him," Neji interjected smoothly. "He was mentioned in the jounin council. The general idea of the discussions was to not give him a weapon and turn your back."

Naruto glared. "Maybe you jounins just don't know him very well. I trust him with my life. I've fought with him against Orochimaru and to get Sasuke back and I'd do it again."

Neji shrugged slightly and, this time, he seemed to have garnered a bit more support than before. Everyone present was looking rather doubtful about Sai and Naruto and Sakura both glowered at them all. "He's a member of Team Seven. …Kakashi-sensei said so. We trust him."

Shikamaru hesitated. It was true, Sai would probably be most helpful in deciphering Yamato's message, even if it were addressed to Sakura. But that would do the no good if he told the Hokage about it- or, worse, Danzou. It was a huge risk to involve him.

But it could potentially be a problem not to. Shikamaru had a very bad feeling that this conspiracy left behind by their sensei was going to lead to something more than a secret about Tsunade. There was a distinct chance that this could lead to a fight- and Sai was the most skilled of their age group. Even Neji couldn't hold a candle to the ANBU. Having him on their side would increase their numbers and give them a definite advantage.

If he was willing to fight with them… because Shikamaru had no idea who they were going to end up fighting against. While there was no evidence to suggest it would be Danzou- he wasn't sure if they could trust Sai to side with them, in the end. Hell, he wasn't sure if he could even rightfully ask Sai to do this- not without more information.

How was he supposed to make this decision with absolutely no information? He didn't know Sai, he didn't know what was going on, he didn't what their sensei had planned, and he didn't know who he could trust. How was he supposed to make a decision about Sai? Why wasn't there someone _else_ who could make this decision?

He hadn't felt this insecure about his abilities as a leader since the Sasuke retrieval mission and its complete failure three years ago. Everyone but himself had been hospitalized, and it hadn't even mattered, Sasuke had still escaped to Orochimaru. If it weren't for his father's words after that mission… he probably would've quit the next day.

But that was when Asuma was still alive. As long as his sensei was alive, it was like there was a security blanket. Everything would be okay.

But Asuma was dead. There was no one else for the responsibility to fall on. If he made the wrong choice and trusted Sai when he wasn't to be trusted, then his sensei's plan could be foiled before it even begun, and what Asuma had potentially given _his life_ for would never see the light of day. If he made the right choice in not trusting Sai, then they could be in more danger than he liked if and when the time for a fight came, people on their side could be killed that Sai's presence would've been able to prevent.

From an entirely strategic point of view, keeping Sai out of the loop was the only plausible course of action. But knowing that choosing to distrust a member of Team Seven could cause his friends to die…

Shikamaru knew that if he put it to a vote, Sai would be excluded. And he couldn't very well turn into a dictator and make a decision for the entire group now, not after they had just voted on the exact same matter concerning Iruka.

"…I don't want to say no, but I'm afraid that we don't know him well enough to trust him. And, Naruto, Sakura- neither do you. You have only known him for a few months. That's not long enough to get to know someone."

At Naruto's outraged expression, Shikamaru waved his hands about in a placating fashion and forced an uneasy smile. "Hey, hey, don't get angry. You know it's true."

"Maybe we don't know that much about him, but we can definitely trust him! I know we can, dattebayo!"

Sakura looked almost as angry as her teammate. "Naruto's right! Sai may have tried to kill Sasuke-kun, but then he changed! And why are we solely discussing this with you?"

"Yeah! Put it to a vote, like we just did with Iruka-sensei!"

Shikamaru sighed heavily. That had been just what he was truing to avoid. Once Sai was voted out, it would be an ordeal to bring up the discussion again. "…Let's not do anything about it now. _None_ of us know anything about Sai. Maybe he would be an asset to us. I don't want to exclude him now without any basis for it."

"So, what are thinking, Shika? Get to know him first?"

He nodded slightly. "Exactly. Get to know him. We can meet again next week after we have a better feel for who he really was. I know, I know- we won't know him very well after a week, but it'll be better than nothing. But I want you all to keep in mind that we don't know anything at all about ROOT. He may be ordered to report on our actions- maybe Danzou will even have a way to force him to do this. Just because he may be likable does not mean he is trustable."

Naruto still looked a bit annoyed, but satisfied, while Sakura nodded in understanding. She, at least, must have realized that if put to a vote now, Sai would've lost by a resounding majority, and that this was the best she was going to get.

Relieved that this tense argument was now over, Shikamaru leaned back and started back on his ramen. "Now that that's over with… Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, and Yamato have all left us something. Let's do our best to decipher it, shall we?"

Sakura moved forward to raise what Yamato had left. "I'll go to the library tomorrow to check this out. I almost remember, but… not quite. I'm sure Tsunade-sama would know, are you sure that I can't just ask her?"

"Absolutely not." Shikamaru shared what they had discussed yesterday and the conclusion they had reached about the impersonator. Predictably, Naruto's eyes widened and he looked like he was about to protest, but couldn't think of what to say- Sakura just frowned and looked away. "Sakura? What is it?"

"It's… nothing. Nothing, just- well, I was thinking, yesterday afternoon, actually… Shishou hasn't been herself recently. And not because she was grieving- she didn't even seem affected by what happened. But, Shikamaru, if what you're saying is right…"

He nodded gravely, and the few smiles faded as they all realized the implications of his statement. No one had honestly believe that Tsunade-sama _wasn't_ Tsunade-sama, but now, the evidence against her just kept coming.

Shikamaru sighed. "Keep an eye on her, Sakura.. And Shizune. I'll be interested to see how deep it goes. But, get back to us on Yamato-taichou's letter. Tomorrow week, probably, unless you get some kind of blinding epiphany sooner."

Sakura nodded and stowed the paper away into her pouch again. A short, awkward silence followed before Kiba spoke up uncertainly. "So… what now? …We don't have anything else to talk about."

There were numerous murmurs of agreement and people turned to look at Shikamaru- again- and he didn't bother to hold back his groan. "It's troublesome that you all look to me. You overestimate me. But Kiba's right. We're done here. Meet up again, next week- same time and place?"

They all nodded together and glanced around to see and ensure that no one disagreed, but they when they began to disperse, Kiba blinked and raised his hand with an exclamation. "Oi, oi! If we meet three times, we have to have a name."

There was a mutter of it's too troublesome, guess from who, as well as a rather matter-of-fact statement from Shino. "Aren't we already known as the Rookie Eleven? Why invent another name?"

Kiba shrugged as if it should be obvious. "Because now we're actually _doing_ something together- you know, besides moping about Sasuke! Oh, damn- right, saying his name around you two always bad results. Sorry, you guys!" he chuckled awkwardly in the wake of Naruto's and Sakura's dumbfounded and depressed looks, then continued. "Anyway, my point, now we've actually got a purpose and all- we should have a name."

"Yes! Something youthful! Oh, I know- the Infinite Everflowing Springtime of Most Passionate-"

"_No!_"

"Nothing to do with youth."

"And no green uniforms! I won't be caught dead in one!"

Lee pouted while the others that cared pondered the situation- though, admittedly, most of the group were staring aimlessly around and waiting to go home. There were a few more disagreements and the name that they finally decided upon was actually a misunderstanding between three suggestions that had been said at the same time.

"Konoha's-"

"-Youth-"

"-United!"

A surprised silence followed the last word. The three disjointed ideas came together to actually make something halfway intelligent and those who cared began nodding appreciably and smiling.

Naruto grinned broadly. "So, Konoha's Youth United it is!"

"Um… isn't that a little long-"

"Shut up, Tenten!" Neji hissed. "If you don't say anything, we get to go home sooner!"

"Huh? What are you guys whispering about over there?"

"N-nothing, Naruto!"

~End of Part One~

**Omake!**

"Come on, Hinata, you can do it! Do it, do it, do it, do it-"

"Kiba-kun!"

"-do it, do it, do it, do it-"

"Excuse me, Naruto? Hinata has something she wants to say to you."

Naruto turned around at Shino's words to look at the Hyuuga, whose face flamed red the moment his eyes met hers. "Hmm? What is it, Hinata?"

"N-N-N-"

"Do it, do it, do it…"

"N-Naruto-kun… would you… would you… w-w-w-would y-you… l-l-l-like to…"

Naruto stared at Hinata in confusion. "What is it?" he repeated, scratching the back of his head as the Hyuuga heiress continued to stammer.

"W-w-w-would you l-like t-to… t-to… t-t-t-to..."

Kiba clasped his hands together eagerly and even Shino seemed a little invested, but Hinata was so red in the face she was likely to pass out before the words even left her mouth.

"W-w-would… I mean I hope that we were gracious hosts and that you can return again sometime, Naruto-kun!"

Hinata's admittedly cheap save of getting out of asking Naruto out- again- was said so fast it was almost impossible to understand, and Naruto's blank look didn't take in the fact that Kiba looked crestfallen and Shino, disappointed, while Hinata's cheeks were a bright red and the woman was staring at her feet as if they held all the answers in the world. Naruto stared at her for a moment longer, then shrugged and waved before turning to run off. "Sure thing, Hinata! See you around!"

"N-Naruto-kun…"


	7. Chapter 7

~Part Two~

_"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"_

A tiny pug appeared on the floor and went about barking and howling almost immediately in a tirade of insults. "Humans!" he yelled, the sudden cry enough to make Iruka flinch back in surprise. "You foolish humans, you procrastinate and mope about and take your dammed time; I've been waiting for weeks, I tell you, _weeks_, and Kakashi says, 'Pakkun just hold onto this for a few days' but noooo, it's been weeks, do you know how hard it was to keep this thing clean and with me at all times…"

Iruka blinked, nonplussed, standing still and watching as the dog continued to rant. Pakkun went on for a moment longer before turning back to him with another eye roll and gesturing with his head towards the scroll on his back. "Ah, ehem. Kakashi's mate. I've been waiting for you to summon me, as is obvious, though I didn't expect it to take this long."

Iruka stared. The dog frowned when he didn't react and gestured at the scroll again. "This is from Kakashi. Since you're the only one he trusted enough to let you make a summoning pact with us, then it makes sense that he would trust you with this. Whatever it is, it's important."

"All right! I knew it, dattebayo! Kaka-sensei did it! He left us something!"

Pakkun turned to face the blond behind him and cocked his head at Naruto's statement. "Fox kid? He didn't mention you would know. What did Kakashi get himself into?"

Iruka froze for a split second, his hand trembling as he tried to untie the scroll. Pain flashed across his face before he managed to control his reaction and he just bit down on his lip as he freed the scroll. "I don't know. Hopefully, this message will enlighten us."

Naruto craned his head over Iruka's arm to read the tiny scroll, hoping for some personal message from Kakashi that would tell them what to do and promise that everything was going to be all right in the end- but, just like the others, the message was neither personal nor enlightening.

It was list of names that were then arranged in several… were those combat formations? The names belonged to the Rookie Eleven, Sai, and then Iruka, Raidou, and Anko, which made no sense whatsoever, as the Rookie Eleven had never worked with those three and had no reason to. Naruto scanned the paper for any sign of an attempt at an explanation of what the hell was going on, but there was none. Just the original list of names and then three possible combat formations.

Naruto and Iruka stared at the paper in confusion. Granted, the other messages from the jounin sensei hadn't led them to expect anything different, but… what were they honestly supposed to do with this?

* * *

"I'll be back in two weeks at the soonest."

"Don't rush," Tenten murmured, watching as her teammate slid a pack of ration bars into his supplies. "Only go as fast as you can _safely._"

Neji nodded without looking up. "I know."

Tenten sighed heavily. It was a stroke of luck, really, that Neji had been assigned a solo mission to none other than Grass Country. It took three days to get there, another three to return, and that was still on top of however long it would take him to accomplish the A-rank, but at least he was getting out there and getting out there alone, so he could investigate and find what it was Gai had left.

But Lee wasn't as objective. "I still say you just let me run out there! I can get there in two days and then be back here before you know it!"

Neji shot him an annoyed look. "We've talked about this. You are a shinobi; leaving your village without permission is grounds for you to be reclassified as a missing nin. You could be killed on sight, Lee! And with Tsunade's true identity in question, we have to do everything we can to avoid attracting her attention."

"Cover for me! I'll go over the walls at night so no one will see me and sneak back in and you can just tell them I'm training in the meantime! Neji's going to have to go out of his way and still accomplish his mission; that'll take too long!"

Tenten sighed, aggravated. It didn't help that she shared Lee's sense of urgency; Gai had left them something behind and they weren't be allowed to see it all because of a little legal technicality of the fact that they couldn't leave the village without permission? Of course, if Gai hadn't seen it as safe to leave the information behind in the village, it had to be important- they had to see it now! Instead, they were forced to wait for Neji to return from his prolonged mission, which they were extremely lucky he had even been assigned at all? It was ridiculous.

She shook her head and let out a calming breath before looking to Neji, appealing for his help. In an inexplicable turn of events, Neji had been the one to keep Lee sane ever since word had came of Gai's death. Somehow, Lee's cold and unyielding rival had managed to hold him to reality and stop him from drowning in grief and disbelief. And, again, it was Neji who spoke up this time, reaching over to lightly touch Lee's wrist and look him in the eye. "Lee, you must understand how that is impractical. What if you were summoned for a mission? What if the Hokage requested to see you? We would not be able to cover for you then."

Lee sighed, seeming crestfallen, and crossed his arms unhappily. He glared at the floor, seeming rather frustrated with the entire situation, then glanced up to meet Neji's gaze again. "You had better return with his message, Neji."

"Wouldn't dream of coming home without it. …He's my sensei too, Lee."

In that moment, Tenten felt the strangest bit of sympathy for her Hyuuga teammate. Neji was hurting just as much as they were. But instead dealing with his own problems and his own grief, he was forced to deal with Lee's as well and stop him from losing his mind. It was almost unfair to ask him to give so much of himself when he was hurting, too- not that Neji would ever complain. But it had to be hard to constantly drill the fact that _Gai-sensei was dead_ into Lee when those three words probably cut through Neji like shards of glass and he was pierced with a longing for the man and a wish that it just wasn't true.

Lee had paused, too, at Neji's words. He stood there for a moment, eyes wide, then nodded with a smile. He reached out to clasp one hand on Neji's shoulder, the other on Tenten's, and exclaimed, "Of course, Neji! We are _all_ Team Gai! I have been selfish… forgive me."

Neji delicately dropped Lee's hand off his shoulder while progressing to the door, but shot a comforting smile over his shoulder all the same. "Nothing to forgive."

Lee grinned, and then the Hyuuga straightened his pack and opened the door, preparing to leave. "Hurry, Neji!" he cried. "You have to get to the message as soon as possible! And-"

"He's going on an A-rank, Lee! It'll be dangerous, it will have to take priority-"

"This is from Gai-sensei! An order from Gai-sensei takes precedence over everything else, even one from the Hokage herself!"

Tenten groaned. "_Lee!_ Don't-"

"I won't return home out without his message. You have my word on that, both of you. And you will be the first people I see when I return, before the Hokage- even before a medic." Neji looked between Lee and Tenten, recognizing their desperation and worry and knowing well what was the cause. After a moment, he straightened his pack again and inclined his head slightly. "I'm going to head out now."

"Stay safe."

"Hurry back."

"I'll do both."

* * *

With Team Three splintered, the next impromptu meeting for the newly dubbed Konoha's Youth United wasn't scheduled for another week. During that time, all the teams went back onto active duty, and Team Ten left on a mission within hours of Team Eight doing the same. However, when Sakura inquired as to when Team Seven would get their next mission, Tsunade informed her that it wouldn't be for a while.

"You have lost both your commander and your interim captain. With only two members left of the original team, there will be no more 'Team Seven' missions. Instead, you will revert back to doing as you used to do in the past- working with whoever was available."

Sakura had found it extremely odd to hear Tsunade refer to Kakashi as just their _commander_ and Yamato as just their _interim captain_, but said nothing.

Shikamaru's theory of Tsunade not being Tsunade was looking very good right about now.

Tsunade had also informed her that she would be getting a mission tomorrow- as for Naruto, the Hokage had been particularly vague. "I would like him to continue training to develop his own jutsu, though without Kakashi, Yamato, or even Asuma to help him, this could take a while. Unless the particular skills of a Jinchuuriki are needed, Naruto will not be assigned any missions."

And that, too, bothered her- because Tsuande rarely referred to Naruto as just 'a_ Jinchuuriki'._

But, oh, hell, what kind of a student did that make- one that didn't even trust her own master? If she was wrong about this and Tsunade found it, the woman would probably never trust _her _again.

But what if that woman _was_ an impostor? Then where was her real master? Either she was being detained somewhere, held prisoner, probably interrogated and tortured- the thought made her nearly nauseous- or she was already dead, had been dead for who knows how long, and she hadn't even _noticed_ this other bastard come in and pretend to be her.

Sakura knew she was a downright terrible student either way, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Besides, she tried to comfort herself, it was most likely that Tsunade was still alive. No one strong enough to take on the Hokage herself and _win_ would be stupid enough to kill her when she was worth so much more alive. And that map had said she was near Sound territory- Orochimaru had no use for a dead Tsunade. She was an even better medic than his lapdog Kabuto and could be used as bait for any number of his Konoha enemies- just killing her outright would serve almost no purpose.

Then there was the fact that if Tsunade had, in fact, been taken by Orochimaru… Sasuke was probably aware of it.

Aware of it, and had done nothing.

It was one thing to betray Konoha but do nothing against the village itself, as Sasuke had done. But it was quite another to learn that your master had kidnapped the village leader and do nothing at all to help.

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to shake her head. No matter what Sasuke may have done, he was still Sasuke. Just because he was lost right now didn't mean they were going to give up on him. Orochimaru was the one responsible, not Sasuke, not their Sasuke. What had happened just gave her more motivation to get to him now; get him home right now where he belonged.

"Damn… _it_…"

Sakura looked up at the words, then gasped. She bolted forward across the grass of the low field to drop by Naruto's side, her hand coming to rest on his sweaty back, her eyes narrow in concern. "Naruto? You okay?"

The blond blinked, still panting for breath, and raised his tired eyes to meet hers. "Y-yeah… course… Sakura-chan, why do you… look so… worried? I'm f-fine."

Sakura hesitated, then withdrew her hand from his shoulder as if she'd just realized it was touching him. Why was she so worried? Normally she hit troublesome shinobi who managed to wear themselves out to the point of a collapse. That was certainly her pattern with Kakashi…

Sakura forced herself off of that line of thought before it could get her to off track and, well, depressed, and instead smiled at him. "I've just never seen you get so exhausted before, baka. Don't flatter yourself!" She gave him a playful slap on the back of the head, then helped him roll onto his back and pulled out a small bottle of water. "Get some rest. Don't start up again for at least an hour."

Naruto winced as his back hit the ground and bit back a groan; Sakura was almost positive that was the only reason he didn't protest immediately. He let out another tired gasp before meeting her gaze again, blue eyes dark and serious. "I'll be fine before then! Maybe if I just eat something… do you have any ramen, Sakura-chan?"

She scowled. "Naruto! No! You know, it's a wonder you're alive at all; living off ramen is not healthy! But I'm serious. Take it easy."

Naruto frowned and looked away. Sakura narrowed her eyes in concern before turning from her teammate to examine the training field.

The craters he had been creating all day were truly fearsome to see. They were only getting bigger as the sun progressed across the sky and Sakura knew that her punches, no matter how powerful they were, were not strong enough to impart that kind of force. Not even Tsunade's were- and Tsunade's blows were stronger than a regular Rasengan.

She had to suppress a shiver. Naruto was getting so strong. What kind of terrifying move would a Rasengan completely infused with wind Chakra be? Chidori was just an incomplete lightening version of the move and it was frightening. She hated to admit it, but the night after she'd first seen Kakashi use it against Zabuza, she'd had nightmares.

Well, perhaps that had more to do with the fact that she'd thought Sasuke was dead…

Sakura shook the thought off and shuddered.

"…Sakura-chan, are you sure there's nothing you can do? Like any medic thing that help, so I could train more?"

She frowned and looked back to him. He looked truly exhausted, a fine sheen of sweat slicking his forehead and dampening his hair. His muscles were trembling from the exertion and she was sure it was only through sheer will power he was staying conscious. "Yes, Naruto, there's a 'medic thing' that could help. It's called rest!"

"But I can't!" Naruto slammed his fist weakly against the ground and met her gaze in frustration. "I- Kakashi-sensei said… he said that he believed in me, that he knew I could make my own technique. A-and, what if… what if… what if Kaka-sensei is in trouble? If I can do this new technique, then I'll be able to help him for once! For once, I'll be able to protect _him!_"

Sakura did not know whether it was because she simply didn't have the heart, or if she actually didn't believe it anymore, when she didn't tell him that Kakashi was dead and no one could protect him anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

I know people are reading this, because I still get story favorites after every update. Please review? It would be appreciated.

"Yo, my wingman! How nice to see you!"

"I am not your wingman."

Anko poked Raidou's scar and forcibly sat him down on the bench, and it was clear that the special ANBU wished he had taken another route home. "Come on, come on, now. I just want to talk to you!"

"I don't really want to talk to you."

"Now, don't spoil the party! Just liiiiisten! Our little youthful brats are up to something!"

Raidou scowled, seeming resigned to suffer, and winced as Anko slung her arm over his shoulder and leaned into him with her usual inappropriateness and blunt self. He swore. "Anko, back off. And if you start talking like Gai, I won't tolerate you even less than I do now."

Anko blinked, then rolled her eyes. "What, because I said youthful? Something can be youthful without being loud, green, and overflowing with passion! Like the village kids, for example. The little genin brats… heck, most of them are chuunin now. But they're young! That's youthful!"

"I don't care what they're getting up to."

"But you do! You do! I spied on them and Tenzou, he left me some weird kind of instructions in his letter to find something and it led me to a weird kind of secret message. It was addressed to that girl Sakura and she showed it to the others- apparently, all the other jounin sensei, they did the same thing as my man Tenzi! And I got to thinking about you and Genma- so, did he?"

Raidou leveled a glare at her. Anko was really far too energetic for his tastes. "Look, there is no scavenger hunt or conspiracy or I don't know what the hell else, and there was no hidden message in anything at all. Now, I have a mission, so if you would kindly-"

"No!" she exclaimed. "No, let's talk, we have to talk, because the kids aren't going to approach you but I think Genma involved you in something. All the others did; he had to have, too."

"Had to have _what?_"

"Left you something!"

With a heavy groan, Raidou leaned forward and buried his head into his hands, rubbing small circles into his temple at the feel of a headache coming on. "I swear to god…"

Anko sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "You're being dense on purpose at this point, Raidou. The whole group of jounin-sensei, as well as Tenzou, left a message in their letters from beyond the grave. It was a bit vague… like, they asked their team to do something, something sentimental, then they ended up uncovering another strange letter- surely, Genma did something like that?"

Raidou was in the process of exhaling a loud, exasperated sigh when he froze.

Genma has asked him to drink that sake… and a letter had been in its place…

_Could it be?!_

Shaking his head to clear it, Raidou turned back to look at Anko to find her appraising him with a knowing look in her eye. Putting aside his irritation, he asked carefully, "What did Tenzou leave you? What did the others leave their kids?"

She shrugged. "Hook, line, and sinker, kid. So easy to grab you on. But, anyway- I don't know about Kakashi or Gai, but Tenzou left me some weird, incomprehensible chemistry thing- sorry, I was always worthless with science in the Academy- Asuma left behind an explanation of their mission, and Kurenai… well, the kids are working on that one. I don't know how reliable hers is. But spill the beans, Raidou- what'd Genma leave you?"

He shook his head slowly again, thinking back to the harsh rise of anger and sadness at the sight of that stubbornly unhelpful piece of paper. "I didn't make anything of it at the time… but it was a list of the six who died, as well as… as w-well as… oh my god."

Anko's eyes widened, and she reached over to grasp him by the shoulder as he lowered his hand to clasp it over his mouth. He felt like he was going to be sick. "What? What is it? What'd you figure out? Raidou, come on, speak up!"

"I just now… realized.. it wasn't until I said it out loud that I-"

"Just say it!"

"It looked like a hit list!"

Anko froze. The special jounin shivered at the thought and closed his eyes, wondering how on earth he could have missed this until now. "It looked just like one, Anko. A list of names and what to watch out for if they were your enemy. Their most formidable trait. The kind of list that ANBU hands out to operatives like candy."

"Like a bingo book entry?"

He frowned. "Well… not exactly. It wasn't a list of jutsu. Just an overview- like, Gai was labeled as the Konoha resident master of taijutsu. They all had something unique about them. …But Asuma and G-Genma, they were a bit different. Asuma was just called the last Sarutobi and Genma as… next up for ANBU commander."

A moment passed in silence. Then Anko leaned slowly back and whistled low, shaking her head in surprise. "Well, didn't realize old Genma was so good. Hmm. But you're right… that's not what you'd see on a hit list. Doesn't tell enough information to be helpful for an assassin. The target's title isn't important."

"Exactly. …So, what the hell _is_ going on here, Anko?"

The woman paused, then gave a feral smile and pulled him upright. "I don't know. But I know some kids who do. They're keeping us out of the loop, but I eavesdropped on their last meeting. Including the part where they said no one was eavesdropping. Meet me here, on Thursday, and I'll take you along with me."

* * *

The week passed in slow succession. The Rookie Eleven came and went on missions, with the exception of Naruto, Iruka went back to teaching and waited, and Anko and Raidou walked around with a bit more purpose than a lonely pair mourning a friend and a lover.

All in all, it seemed almost normal. And that was a problem.

They were all so absorbed in _pretending_ to be fine, to be pretending to not, in fact, be eagerly awaiting Neji's return and the next meeting, they forget to grieve. (Perhaps that was because recent developments allowed the beginnings of hope to sprout, hopes that their friends and teachers and lovers weren't dead, but that was aside the point.)

The fact that they weren't grieving began to draw unwanted attention. Izumo and Kotetsu would look at Iruka oddly in the missions room, and do the same with Raidou. The original Ino-Shika-Cho could often be seen in dark bars at night, discussing the sudden desensitization of their children and often seeming uncertain whether it was a bad thing or not. Teuchi and the owner of the barbecue place, Ketame, could often be seen speaking of how their regulars had returned without even a sad look or a tear, and Anko- well, she had always drawn strange looks and done strange things, so now was no different than before.

But it could not be denied that their odd behavior was attracting attention. And while any attention in this situation was unwanted, some of it was worse than others.

"Operative 5-5-3-7."

The paintbrush moving over the sketchpad hesitated, though the holder did not raise his head from his work. "Operative 3-9-2-6. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Do not use a fake smile on me, operative. You have been mixing among the general populous for too long."

"…Of course. My mistake."

"You have new orders- all the way from Danzou-sama. The children who have named themselves the Rookie Eleven, as well as Umino Iruka, Mitarashi Anko, and Namiashi Raidou, have been acting strangely as of late. As you have already infiltrated this group, Danzou-sama has instructed you to investigate and report back on what you find."

Sai paused for a moment before he resumed drawing, his hand moving so fast it was nearly a blur. He disliked the operative's use of the word infiltration, but it really could not be helped. "…Have you considered that they may simply be grieving? These are shinobi who are inconvenienced by emotions. They lost people who they were close to recently."

"…I do not question my superior's orders. Perhaps you should not, either."

"Aah, of course. My mistake."

The operative behind him shifted nearly imperceptibly, and Sai found himself feeling the strangest sense of empathy and pity for him when he felt his Chakra minutely coil in anger. "You seem to be making many _mistakes_ of late, Operative 5-5-3-7. Do make sure that the frequency of such errors decreases in the future."

"Yes, Senpai."

A faint nod, and then the operative vanished in a swirl of leaves. Sai remained still for a moment, then followed suit. All that was left behind was a tiny drop of paint in the dirt.


	9. Chapter 9

Neji's long awaited arrival finally put an end to the Rookie Eleven's anxiety. It was late Thursday night- the night of the meeting- when he finally walked slowly back into Konoha, dragging his feet and hanging his head, but the guards who tried to show him to a medic were steadfastly ignored. "I am fine," he promised repeatably, shrugging off the healers who tried to touch him. "I have somewhere to be. A medic will be there. I will be fine."

Eventually, the healers let him pass- probably because if the blood on his clothes was all his, he wouldn't still be standing. The Hyuuga immediately walked forward as fast as his exhausted body could manage, heavy pack hanging off one shoulder, the other strap looking as if it had been devoured by a tiger, but he was fully conscious and all he had to do was get to the meeting, then Sakura or Ino could heal him and he could hand the scroll over to Lee- because Lee had to read it, they all _had_ to read it, they had to-

"Neji!"

Neji's head snapped up when two voices called his name. Hurrying down the street were two very familiar shinobi, both breaking into a run when they saw they had caught his attention. "Tenten? Lee?" he asked, rubbing his eyes wearily.

His teammates ran to either side of him, Tenten taking his pack off his shoulders while Lee examined him with wide eyes, searching him for sign of injury. "Are you all right, Neji?!" he exclaimed frantically, shaking him by the shoulders so roughly it made his head spin.

Tenten smacked his hands away. "Quit that, Lee! If he's not hurt now, you doing that could do the trick! Neji, are you okay? Sorry- we've just been worried and-"

"I'm fine," he interrupted. He gestured at the pack now on Tenten's shoulders and muttered, "We just have to get to the meeting. I got Gai-sensei's message. You… they all have to see it."

"That can wait!" Tenten snapped, still looking him over with a critical eye. "Neji, you're covered in blood-"

"-not mine-"

"-should see a medic-"

"Sakura will be there-"

"-asleep on your feet-"

"-sleep later-"

"Damn it, Neji!"

Neji sighed heavily and broke away from Tenten's grasp, moving down the street towards the Hyuuga compound. "Hurry," he called weakly. "Gai-sensei's message… they have to see it."

"Did you read it, Neji? What is it- what did he say?!"

He just shook his head. Lee's black eyes went wide at his non response but Neji couldn't speak; he couldn't tell him what the letter had said. He couldn't bring himself to say those words aloud; he just knew he had to get to the meeting. If he keeled over and died one foot within the Hyuuga compound, it would be worth it, because the message would have been delivered.

It faintly occurred to him that his thoughts were addled by exhaustion and blood loss, but that didn't mean he should stop.

Finally, his two teammates managed to get him into the courtyard, where everyone was already assembled as if waiting just for him. The moment he was led through the gate, he was accosted with questions, blurs and streams of words that made no sense. He dimly heard Tenten push them all back and yell for quiet while Ino and Sakura both hurried forward, seeing to the Hyuuga's wounds. He tried to shrug off their hands while gesturing to Tenten, who nodded in understanding and slipped the pack onto the ground.

"Should be in the hospital… I swear, the jounin exam is just when they knock all common sense out of your skull and give you a certificate."

"What's this supposed to be? You call this this a bandage? Could easily get infected, needed to be changed hours ago-"

"Yes, yes, we all know how much medics hate jounins. Berate him later. Neji, how was it? Mission success?"

The tired Hyuuga nodded and gestured to the pack. "Yes. Both of them, Shikamaru. Gai-sensei's message is the red scroll."

Shikamaru nodded and proceeded to search for the scroll while Sakura and Ino both forced Neji down to sit next to Hinata, who was watching him with wide, anxious eyes. They began seeing to his many, if relatively minor, wounds immediately, but all other eyes were on Shikamaru. They watched nervously as he finally emerged from the pack, a small crimson scroll in his hand, and unfurled it. He looked at it, then his eyes went wide and his lips parted in surprise. For one terrible moment, he looked almost grieved before his expression shuddered back into a blank mask and he carelessly let the scroll fall to the ground where all the others could see it.

They all leaned forward worriedly, some apprehensively, most craning their necks to be able to read. Even the two medics and Hinata moved forward to see.

_Everyone, we will try to survive and be waiting for you, but if we don't, we are very sorry. We love you all. _

_Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Genma, Yamato_

The meeting slipped into a stunned silence. Neji's eyes closed, his duty having been completed, and fell into blissful unconsciousness, but not even the two medics noticed when his head hit the ground.

Emotions ran thick and fast in everyone present. Not even Lee spoke up; the boy just sat there and stared sightlessly at the paper, black eyes wide in shock. Tenten knelt in the dirt beside her now unconscious teammate, not even noticing that he had slumped against her. The other teams were similarly disposed, not one person with even the slightest idea of how to react.

It was finally Iruka, how had been brought along with Naruto, who moved. The man reached forward and rolled the stunning scroll up, hiding the words from view and breaking the spell. "Sakura, Ino," he said quietly. "Go back and take a look at Neji. He's still injured. Everyone else, snap out of it. Shikamaru- you're in charge here, right?"

The Nara blinked, then nodded jerkily and straightened up. The haze lifted and he leaned back with a nod of thanks at Iruka. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei. Yes. Everyone, focus. We didn't come here to sit here and stare." He cleared his throat and glanced over in Neji's direction, making sure he was being taken care of before before turning back to the Academy teacher. "Uhm, Iruka-sensei, can you show us the message you found from Kakashi-sensei?"

"Of course. His summon had it. …I'm not really sure what to do with it." He handed the scroll over to Shikamaru, who looked down at it almost apprehensively. After what he had found in Gai's message, he wasn't keen to read something just as painful. He hesitated, then roughly unfurled the scroll, quick and fast, like ripping a bandaid right off a wound.

He was certainly relieved to find that it was nothing worrisome. After a moment of scanning the list of combat formations and names, he passed it around the circle for others to read while glancing over to the two medics. "And, Sakura? Anything good come out of your research?"

Ino waved her away, so Sakura left Neji in her hands and shifted to face the others. "Um, a little. I looked around logs at Tsunade-sama's lab and found a few things that look like they're related to Yamato-taichou's message. But I could use a little bit more time."

"I see. Keep it up, then."

The group fell silent for a moment, then Kiba frowned and gestured at the five scrolls set out on the ground, one from each of the ninja who had died on that terrible mission. "Oi, Shikamaru- is it just me, or are we missing something here?"

Shino nodded in agreement when the Nara just sighed. "We are. Why? Six ninja were killed, not five. Yet we have only gathered messages from five. Why? That is because we do not trust Raidou. Wh-"

"To shorten a long trail of explanations, what Shino is trying to say is that maybe we should talk to this guy Raidou, see if we can find out what Genma left him- because we have all the pieces of the puzzle but one, and it doesn't make any sense. We need the last piece."

Shino nodded at Kiba while Shikamaru hesitated, clearly torn. Iruka was the one who spoke up again. "Raidou-san?" he asked in surprise. "What do you mean you don't trust him?"

Shikamaru glanced over at his Academy sensei and shook his head slightly. "We just don't know him very well. Do you? Because Kiba's right- it would really be convenient if we could simply talk to Raidou and find out what Genma left him."

"Well, I'm not his friend, but I am acquainted with him. I worked a few shifts in the missions room with him when he was recovering a few years back. He can be trusted. After all, he's a guard to the Hokage."

"Maa, that's what we're afraid of."

Shikamaru shrugged at Iruka's confused expression. "We want to keep this from the Hokage, Iruka-sensei. We were worried that if we talked to Raidou, he would talk to her how… or whoever is impersonating her, as it may be."

Iruka blinked, then opened his mouth to respond-

_"Ow!"_

Everyone jumped and whirled to the sound of the new voice, then froze.

Namiashi Raidou was sprawled in the dust at the foot of the wall, face buried in the sparse grass, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Anko stood to the side, leaning over her friend with a smirk and shaking her head in disapproval. "Talk about elite. If you're the standard nowadays, I weep for the future of Konoha."

"You. Shoved. Me. Off. The. Roof."

Anko rolled her eyes. "And you're a ninja! What else is new? You should've at least landed on your feet."

"Maybe you shouldn't have shoved me then?!"

Anko laughed loudly before reaching down to pull the man to his feet so he could face their stunned audience. She gave a cheerful, one-handed wave, and Raidou blinked and rubbed at the dust in his face, then focused on the Rookie Eleven. "Ah… hello."

"Em… Hello, Raidou-san. Anko-san. This is… unexpected."

"Likewise, Iruka-sensei," Raidou grunted with an angry look at Anko. "I didn't mean to drop in on you- literally. Until this one shoved me down on you."

"…That doesn't explain what the hell you were doing here in the first place."

Raidou and Anko turned to Ino at her tense words, the violet-haired kunoichi smiling at her while the scarred jounin simply continued to dust himself off, leaving the explanations to his partner in crime. She groaned. "Look, you guys really suck at being subtle. Pinkie, when I gave you Yammy's letter last week, it was just blindingly obvious you were hiding something. You should hope you're never interrogated- Ibiki could have you singing like a little bird in two seconds. Oh, and don't play poker. With anyone. You'd go broke in- well, that's aside the point, which is that I eavesdropped on your last little meeting."

Expressions of shock made themselves known among the Rookie Eleven. "Hey!" Kiba exclaimed, standing and glancing back at Hinata in alarm. "How did you do that? Hinata said that we were being guarded so no one could do that!"

Anko shrugged easily. "You didn't hire real guards; she got a disgruntled moron who'd just come off a twenty four shift to do it. That, and people love me. Little Miss Timid's got a lot to learn about leading a clan; just because people call her -sama doesn't mean they actually follow her orders. I gave him a pillow and he was out like a light."

Hinata's cheeks went red and she stared at the ground in shame, though the others were all focusing their glares more at the intruders than the Hyuuga. Raidou sighed, clearly aggravated, and said clearly, "Hyuuga-san, I apologize for her… everything. But, I heard that you're missing something?"

"Hold it, Raidou-san." Shikamaru stepped forward and held out his hand, eyes narrowed in distrust. "How do we know you just won't go straight to the Hokage with this?"

"You're Shikamaru- Shikaku's brat. I heard you were smart, but I guess not- you're not figuring this out."

Anko elbowed him in the side and laughed. "Nah, nah. I remember this kid from his Chuunin Exam. He and his team were a bit, how should I say, jock full of cowardice. They met up with Gaara, you know, back when he was still a complete sociopath, and ran for the hills."

Raidou levels her with a flat stare while Team Ten all stiffened together. Ino paused in her slow healing and glared, Chouji frowned, and Shikamaru just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Anko. Raidou spoke slowly, as if he were trying to calm himself. "That's not cowardice. That's intelligence; Gaara was more than any genin could take."

"Semantics, semantics!"

"…I think you don't quite know what the word semantics means-"

"Could we bet back on topic here, dattebayo?"

Anko's and Raidou's short argument was cut off, and both turned to look at Naruto. The blond looked rather cross at both of them- which, Raidou had to admit, they fully deserved- and he inclined his head and smiled slightly. "Of course. As I was saying- Anko told me about your suspicions that Tsuande is not actually Tsunade. As a guard for the Hokage, it's my duty to make sure she is safe- not blindly tell whoever's wearing the Hokage's hat everything that goes on in Konoha." He handed Genma's message forward with only the slightest hint of hesitation, and he only resisted for a split second when Shikamaru took the letter to read it. Next moment, and it was making its rounds around the circle, and Raidou and Anko both were headed to read Kakashi's and Gai's letters.

They, too, knelt over Gai's secret, hidden message, the words freezing them in their tracks. Raidou just stared, his clenched fists shaking as he read Genma's signature below the farewell.

Shikamaru sighed gruffly when the group lapsed into silence, all six scrolls having made their rounds and been read by everyone present. "Well, that's that. …Ino, Sakura, get Neji inside. Make sure he's taken care of, and when you're done, come back out here. …I need to think about this."

The two medics watched as the Nara then shut his eyes without waiting for a reply, slipping into a crouch, his hands coming together in a loose circle. Ino and Chouji both recognized the position in a heartbeat. The blonde complied with is orders without question, and Sakura and Hinata went with her, while Chouji glanced at the confused jounin and others and grinned broadly. "Shikamaru's thinking," he said, as if that explained everything.

After tucking Neji into bed and ensuring that he was resting as comfortably as he could under the circumstances, the three women returned to find Shikamaru still crouching in the dirt, eyes closed, with the others having gravitated around the three adults and speaking softly to them. They joined them, all discussing the six letters in quiet voices until, just a short while letter, Shikamaru's eyes opened to display a frighteningly grave expression.

"We have to suppose that these six messages are all we have to work with. Considering that, all we have to do is examine the information in them and take it for its full meaning. First, taking the messages from Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei, and Genma-san. Kurenai-sensei implied someone has taken Tsaunde-sama's place without our knowledge… Asuma-sensei showed that the mission was undoubtedly a suicide mission that no one could be expected to survive. The information in Genma-san's letter, however… if we assume that someone is actually impersonating the Hokage, then those six would be the most dangerous to them. The Hokage impersonator would want to get rid of them. And what better way to get rid of troublesome shinobi than to assign them a suicide mission?"

There was a hushed murmur of shock throughout the group. Everyone looked around at their teammates with wide eyes, taking in what the Nara was proposing in disbelief. "Shi-Shikamaru," Kiba stammered, leaning forward anxiously. "You're not… you're accusing the Hokage of _trying_ to kill them?"

He shook his head darkly, brown eyes wide with the shock of his own epiphany. "No. I'm accusing whoever is sitting in the Hokage's chair as trying to kill them."

"…As outlandish as his theory may seem… I think he's right."

Everyone turned to look at Raidou in surprise, and the man shrugged slightly with a hesitant look in his eye. "It's what I would do. Why try and kill such powerful shinobi yourself when you can get someone else to do it, and it can't even be blamed on you? Besides, it explains why Asuma and Genma were on that list. The fact that Asuma is the last Sarutobi in the line aside from that little genin brat normally wouldn't matter- but people would flock to him if there were a rebellion. And no one gives a damn that Genma was next in line to be ANBU commander, but this way, whoever is sitting in the Hokage's chair can line up their own plant to take the position, effectively removing ANBU as a threat. It makes logical sense."

"But, is incomplete," Anko added. "Nice thinking, to get all that just from half of the hidden messages- but what about the others? Gai, Yamato, and Kakashi?"

Shikamaru's expression turned even more worried. "I'll get to Gai-sensei in a minute. First, Yamato's message… Sakura, I still want you to look into the formula on the letter, but I think the real message is the fact that it mentions that it is for usage against Danzou."

His statement was met by blanket confusion. It took a long moment for Sakura to suddenly gasp and raise her head, eyes wide. "Wait… Danzou? Oh my god… you don't mean..."

"You're seeing it."

"Well, the rest of us aren't, so care to let us in on the secret?"

Sakura sighed at Anko's comment before grinning. "Look underneath the underneath." She shared a private smile with Naruto and Iruka, then gestured forward at the six cryptic messages. "Danzou wanted to be Hokage, didn't he… if someone's impersonating Shishou… could it be?!"

Shikamaru nodded. "Now you're thinking."

Naruto stared around the loose circle in shock, blue eyes wide. "Yamato-taichou was trying to tell us that Danzou was the one behind this!"

"That bastard! I'll kill him!"

"No, you won't," Raidou said sharply, his words trampling Kiba's sentiments as he sent a warning glare around the circle to those who clearly shared his ideas. "Danzou's skill are on a Kage level. Besides, killing him won't get us any closer to finding Tsunade-sama."

"But that son of a bitch _killed_ Asuma-sensei!" Ino yelled, punching the ground in frustration. "He killed them- he can't get away with it, I won't-"

"Actually, there's more, and it's more shocking than Danzou's role in all of this. Please hold your applause until the end." Shikamaru waited until the restless group fell silent once again before he relaxed slightly, crossing his legs and leaning on his elbows. " Now, Kakashi-sensei's letter and Gai-sensei's letter are connected. It's pretty obvious that Kakashi-sensei's was instructions for how we ought to best fight- the formations we should use, the groups we should form, etc.. But, like Yamato's letter, as Sakura said, we must look underneath the underneath- Kakashi-sensei knows that he isn't the only one worth a damn when it comes to strategy. He also didn't like doing unnecessary things, if I remember correctly. I think the most important part of the letter is the list of names themselves, not necessarily how they are arranged."

"…He's trying to tell us who we can trust."

"Precisely, Shino."

Everyone moved forward to look at Kakashi's letter again, scanning the names anxiously and looking around to find them all present- except for one. Naruto smiled triumphantly and wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulders. "Ha! We told you guys Sai was trustworthy! Even Kakashi-sensei says so!"

Sakura shrugged him off but looked no less pleased than he did. "They had valid reasons not to trust him, Naruto," she murmured, though it was through a smile.

Shikamaru grimaced, waving them off. "Yes, yes, you were right. Congratulations. But I'm not finished yet. Kakashi-sensei's letter is related to Gai-sensei's, after all. If he wanted us to just know who we could trust, then he would've written down a list of names, slapped on a header of 'who you can trust' and been done with it. The fact that he put us in potential combat formations shows that they're expecting us to do some fighting. And these aren't just for a battle against Danzou; the formations would be entirely different if they were intended to fight one man. And now, Gai-sensei's letter."

He leaned forward to lift it up so they all could see. The Nara ignored how most of the group shivered and looked away from the depressing sight and just cleared his throat and continued. "Yes, a sad sight to see, all of that- but this part here. It doesn't just say 'we will try to survive'. It says 'we will try to survive _and be waiting for you'_. …That implies that if they survive, we will have to find them- they will not come to us."

At first, only Raidou and Iruka understood the implications. Then their two stunned looks mixed with a surprised gasp from many of the others, and finally a shocked exclamation or two and they were all there, bodies trembling in disbelief and eyes open wide, heads shaking as they tried to understand.

Shikamaru smiled grimly. "Exactly," he said to no one in particular. "They wouldn't have returned home to Konoha if they survived. And their bodies were not found… they could all still be alive."

* * *

The next meeting of KYU had been scheduled for a week later, a week after the realization that their precious people _could all still be alive. _Team Seven was given the assignment of continuing their investigation into Yamato's formula as well as roping in Sai, Team Three was given the task of informing Neji of what had happened while he slept, and all the others were to train in the formations described in Kakashi's letter.

Sai, of course, knew of all this. It was rather easy for a bug made of ink to spy on the supposedly private meeting and report back to him, and it caused only a small twinge of guilt that only one of Shikamaru's 'shocking revelations' was actually new information for him.

All he reported to Danzou was that the Rookie Eleven had been playing cards all night.

But later, while he waited for Naruto and Sakura to get around to giving him a formal invite, he wondered how he could justify his actions to himself. Sure, he could not tell the Rookie Eleven everything, not with Danzou's curse seal active, but that did not mean he and every other member of ROOT could not find _some way_ to communicate to society what was going on. Though, as far as he was aware, he was the only one that took issue with the fact that Danzou was impersonating the Hokage. That Danzou and every other ROOT operative knew Tsuande had been taken by Orochimaru over two months ago and done nothing to help her; instead, their leader had turned the situation into a political power game, slaughtered the ANBU who'd barely come back alive with news of the Hokage's abduction, and taken her place.

No one else had seen it fit to take issue with the fact that Danzou had senselessly murdered six of Konoha's most loyal ninja, all for the sake of his own power. Yes, Danzou wanted to serve the village; he wasn't a narcissistic, selfish megalomaniac who only served his only needs- but this was wrong. _Wrong_. He had sent six ninja to their deaths, devastated their loved ones, and left Tsunade to be tortured to death all because he believed he made a better Hokage than she did.

He knew what Danzou's plans for Konoha were. He was going to turn it into something purely militaristic, take every single shinobi and indoctrinate them into ROOT's ways that taught the death of emotion. He would imprison Naruto in the village as nothing more than a Jinchuuriki. He would take their entire population of ninja and turn them into something that both Hiruzen and Tsunade had fought against; an emotionless army that served to protect the citizens of Konoha without any thought for their own welfare.

It was wrong.

Sai honestly could not stomach it. He liked to pretend that the nights he had spent vomiting were from bouts with poison and the flu, but they weren't- it was troublesome for a shinobi's stomach to be so weak, for guilt to drive him so ill, but it was the truth. The look on Naruto's face when word of his sensei's death reached him haunted him late at night; the way Sakura's green eyes had widened in disbelief, then abruptly filled with tears had woken him in twisted, sweaty sheets, how they had both leaned against each other and Kakashi's lover at the funeral made his heart twist until it hurt. He couldn't stand lying to them, not like this. He couldn't stand knowing that he knew the truth of how Kakashi and the five others had died, yet did nothing.

And now came this knowledge that they could actually be alive. It was such a relief it had made him smile, a real one, not one of Danzou's fake ones. They could still be alive.

But he could not betray the Foundation. It and Danzou had raised him. Perhaps what Danzou was doing was wrong, but if Sai betrayed him and confirmed the Rookie Eleven's suspicions, he could die.

But, perhaps Danzou was the one who had raised him, but it was the Rookie Eleven who had made him feel alive again. It was Naruto who had taught him how to feel, how to smile, what is like to have friends. Danzou gave him a life, but the Rookie Eleven, they gave his life a purpose.

His loyalties were being pulled and stretched in two different directions, and he could not chose between the two. He simply could not.

It was in this state that Naruto and Sakura found him. They both smiled and waved, calling out to him, calling his… _name_. He had a name. They didn't smile at him because he was a skilled ninja; Sai found himself undoubtedly certain that they would still be his friend if his Chakra were sealed and he could never take another mission again.

Danzou would have him exiled from the Foundation immediately- and probably kill him, for good measure; no use having a living man who knew so many classified secrets if he wasn't able to fight in the darkness.

"Hey, Sai! Good to see you!"

A smile tugged on his lips before he could call one up for appearances. A genuine smile.

He liked his name. He liked having a name. Having some kind of classification other than Operative 5-5-3-7.

The realization hit him like a blast of cold water.

_I am a human with a name. Not a tool with a number._

The difference?

Tools simply did as their master bid. They did not know right from wrong.

Humans did.

The answer of where his loyalties lay was answered in that one moment. They did not lay with Danzou or the Foundation, or even the Rookie Eleven. They lay with what was right.

And what was right was to chose his friends, not the man making his friends suffer.

So he went along with their offer to go eat lunch in Sakura's apartment, both of them swearing it was just because they hadn't really spent time together in so long, why not each lunch together? He let them pull him along and kept silent, taking in their nervous chatter and becoming more and more convinced by the minute that he had made the right decision.

He was almost willing to let them try to recruit him and think that it was their idea, but the way they danced around the topic uncomfortably as if they didn't quite know how to say it changed his mind. When Sakura almost brought up the discussion, then backed out of it for the fifth time, Sai smiled brightly at both of them and spoke up. "Naruto, Sakura, I know what you brought me here to tell me. The answer is yes."

They looked surprised- predictably- and Sai watched their reactions carefully as he opened his mouth to gesture to the black seal on his tongue. "I am unable to actually discuss the situation with you, due to Danzou-sama's seal, but I am aware of it. He… I was ordered to watch your meeting with your friends- ah, I believe you termed it Konoha's Youth United? I was present last night and heard everything. Your suspicions are correct." He plastered a fake smile on his lips and beamed- because every bad situation could be made worse than a smile, and the look on his teammates' faces certainly confirmed the idea that it was a very bad situation indeed.

It took a few minutes worth of stammering and stuttering and Sai giving bland answers for Naruto and Sakura to faintly recover enough to begin to intelligently question him. "We're right?!" Naruto exclaimed, eyes wide. "You mean- we're right about Danzou taking Tsunade-obaachan's place, and about Kaka-sensei and the others being alive- that's actually true?!"

Sai frowned. "The first, I am unable to answer, due to Danzou-sama's seal. Before you try asking, that includes just writing the answer down, or any other form of communication. The second, I can neither confirm nor deny- I was under the same impression that you were about their deaths."

The other two members of Team Kakashi just stared at him. Finally, Sakura cleared her throat and picked up with the questioning. "So- you knew all along?! Oh, god, Sai- how long has Shishou been missing?!"

"A bit longer than two months. Don't jump to conclusions- ROOT had nothing to do with her abduction by Orochimaru. At least, not to my knowledge."

"You simply took advantage of it," she spat.

Sai winced inwardly and said nothing. It didn't help at all that she was absolutely right.

Naruto glanced between his two teammates worriedly before focusing on Sai again, blue eyes narrow in concern. "Why didn't you do anything until now, Sai? You're more than just his puppet; you don't have to do anything he says!"

He inclined his head slightly in a watered down version of a bow. "…I apologize. Please know that I was unaware of the plan to kill Kakashi-senpai and the others until after they had already left- otherwise I would've approached you much sooner. …Until then, all Danzou-sama had done was pretend to take Tsunade-hime's place. I thought, perhaps, that he had sent a squad out to investigate and find out where she was being kept, and try to save her… I didn't realize he never had any such intentions. But I can't go along with it anymore. He is going to… g-going to…" Sai trailed off, then shook his head helplessly. "I'm sorry. I can't say anything more without my seal activating."

The blond remained quiet for several long seconds, the pink-haired medic seeming unable to look him in the eye. The two remaining members of Team Seven looked from the table to each other, and Sai did nothing but sit and wait for their judgement.

Finally, Naruto smiled at him, and Sai was almost surprised by the sheer idea of such a genuine expression. Naruto did not smile when he didn't want to smile. He didn't smile for an effect. He smiled because he felt like it, and to know someone so honest and true after an entire life of nothing but deception was a comfort. "The only thing that matters is that you're willing to work with us against Danzou now. Right?"

"Of course I am. Whatever you need, if it is within my abilities, it will be done."

Sakura paused before she smiled at him herself and reached out across the table to rest her hand on his wrist. He blinked at the contact, wondering if she expected him to touch her back, but she didn't seem to. "Then Naruto's right… that's all that matters. I'd rather work with a teammate to save Kakashi-sensei and Shishou than be mad at one and get nothing done."

The three teammates looked at each other, every member of Team Kakashi beginning to grin. Naruto then put his hand in the center of the table and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Let's not keep secrets from each other like this again. Okay? Team Kakashi, no matter what."

Sakura nodded first and firmly placed her hand on top of Naruto's. "Team Kakashi, no matter what."

Then they both turned expectantly to Sai, who was looking at them like they had grown a second head. "Um… what are you doing?"

Sakura chuckled and forcefully grabbed his hand to place it on top of hers. "This is what team members do, Sai."

"…Why?"

"It shows you're part of the team, silly!"

Sai hesitated. He looked between Naruto's painfully eager expression to Sakura's expectant one, then down to his pale hand on top of theirs. Well, if it was what his friends did…

"Team Kakashi, no matter what?"

"There you go!" Naruto exclaimed, then giggled and elbowed Sakura in the side. "Hey, Sakura-chan, are you thinking what I'm thinking? We could probably tell this guy that normal teams all did something crazy- like a ramen eating contest- ooh, ooh, and the new guy had to pay! and he'd do it- isn't this awesome!"

When Sakura slapped Naruto over the back of the head and scowled and gave a little whine and a pout, Sai once again marveled at what is like to belong to a team.


	10. Chapter 10

Woah... thank you guys for reviewing! I guess you really like last chapter, huh? :)

* * *

"…And so, to finish…" Sai bowed deeply to his small audience, keeping his dark eyes trained on the ground. "I can't apologize enough for what has happened to your loved ones. But, if you will have me, I would like to help you find Tsunade-hime, as well as the six who were believed to have been killed."

Sai waited nervously, but the awkward silence only lasted for a moment before something hard and plastic hit him in the forehead. He blinked, then cautiously reached down to pick up what looked to be like an empty container of takeout. He paused before raising his head to look at the small group before him, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Yo! Over here!"

Sai glanced over at Anko, who was waving cheerfully at him with one hand. The woman rolled her eyes at his confused expression and chuckled. "Sorry for throwing food at you, but it seemed the best way to get your attention. Look, Kakashi already said we could trust you, and it's pretty damn hard to win that guy's trust. I'm with you. You're definitely in Konoha's Youth United- which, by the way, is the _dumbest_ name I have ever heard in my life."

Raidou shrugged. "I don't know. I kind of like it. Since we're now members, I feel kindof young- with the name 'youth' being in the title and all."

"Both of you, be quiet and focus before I take a play out of Anko's book and throw things at you to get you back on topic."

Anko waggled her eyebrows at Iruka while Raidou just grunted and turned back to Sai. "Ooh, kinky stuff, _Sensei_. You know, I love a man who knows how to show some discipline in the bedroom."

Iruka flinched. His brown eyes met hers for a moment before he simply shook his head and looked away, digging shaking hands into the soft dirt as he did so. "…Sorry, Anko. Not interested."

"You know, Kaka-sensei will kill you when he gets back here and find out you hit on Iruka-sensei!"

Anko's calm gaze turned into a glare focused on Naruto. "Oh, I don't know about that. Me and the copy cat used to have some fun back in the day, before he started swinging for the other team and got all tied down and domestic-"

"Shut the hell up, Anko."

The woman fell silent at Iruka's venomous glare, seeming to finally get it that he did not appreciate any jokes about Kakashi, and certainly not any jokes about his relationships. Raidou cleared his throat in the awkward silence that followed and looked back to Sai, who didn't seem to know what to say. "After that display, I'd be surprised if you still wanted to join us. We're not all homicidal maniacs, just Anko- don't let her scare you off."

"If that was enough to scare him off, I'm not sure I'd want him on this venture." Shikamaru gestured for Sai to sit and join them, then, as an afterthought, handed him a container of takeout rather then throwing it at him. "Have some dinner and listen up while we talk."

Raidou sat up a bit straighter, not seeing the need to stand since he was already taller than everyone else without even climbing to his feet. "With Sai here, I think it's time for us to fully discuss the combat formations detailed in Kakashi's letter. I took a look at them and they're sound; no better than anything I could come up with. I think we should use them. I want you all to practice them with the squad leaders he chose."

He passed out copies of the teams and formations to everyone present. then continued. "Now… we have three objectives with these teams. Objective one: Find and rescue Tsunade-sama, preferably alive. Objective two: If necessary, fight Danzou to get him out of the Hokage's chair. And, objective three… find everyone who Danzou tried to kill and get them home, no mater what it takes."

Raidou blinked when he saw Naruto's hand shoot up in the air, almost like this secret rebel meeting was something as mundane as a class. "Uh… yes?"

"We all agreed that Kakashi-sensei left us a list of who we could trust. But… Ero-sennin isn't on it."

"Ero-sennin?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Baka Naruto means Jiraiya… doesn't have any idea about how to respect a dammed Sannin."

Shikamaru frowned while Raidou glanced from Sakura to the letter with an unreadable expression. "Naruto's right," the Nara murmured. "We can all agree what Jiraiya-sama is to be trusted. He is also undoubtedly a good enough fighter to be worth mentioning. His presence alone could make or break a mission."

"So why did Kakashi-sensei leave his name off the list?"

No one answered. The entire group contemplated the question, but it was almost a full minute before Shino raised his head and said quietly, "Perhaps they wanted Jiraiya-sama to remain in the village in case Danzou planned something. If he did something that threatened village safety, and none of us were present, there must be someone to stop him."

Kiba's eyes widened. "Yeah! Shino's right! Jiraiya can probably kick Danzou's ass- if Danzou tries to hurt anyone else, Jiraiya will just step in!"

Raidou shot him an exasperated look. "Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that- but you're right. Jiraiya-sama is the best choice to keep the village safe if Danzou tries something."

"I'll talk to him!" Naruto exclaimed immediately, an eager look on his face that quickly slipped into a crestfallen one. "Well, um… I will, when he gets back in town. He's been on a mission for two weeks."

The scarred jounin frowned at that, then sighed tiredly. "It's what I would do. Jiraiya-sama is the greatest threat in this village to Danzou, along with those six he targeted. In fact, if he had sent Jiraiya-sama along with them on the suicide mission, there's a chance that, between the seven of them, at least one of them would make it back alive- which is probably why Danzou left him alone. He's probably going to be giving Jiraiya-sama as many missions as possible to keep him away from the village- he knows Tsunade-sama the best out of anyone in this village and Danzou surely is aware of that. If anyone would notice he was impersonating her based off her character alone, it would be him- and in a fight against the Sannin, Danzo likely knows that victory can not be guaranteed. …Jiraiya-sama won't be of much help to us if he's constantly on missions, though."

No one spoke for a few moments, then Shikamaru just raised his hand and nodded slightly. "Let me think of a plan for it. Naruto, do you know when he'll be back?"

The blond shrugged. "He told me he'd probably be gone for three weeks- so, a few days, at the earliest."

"Good. That should be enough time for me to come up with a plan. Now, until he returns, none of us are going anywhere- but we do have to discuss what our first course of action will be. Who is our priority- Tsunade-sama, Danzou, or Asuma-sensei and the others? …I know we all want to go after them, first, but we have the entire village to think about here."

Anko nodded firmly. "You're right. Well, Danzou's out of the question; even if we killed him now, the village would be without a leader, and that would just be a mess. If we after Tsunade first… I'm sorry, but I won't be of much help. I can fight Orochimaru in a pinch, but… I'll really just hinder you. Sorry." She raised a hand to slowly trace over her cursed seal, then sighed.

Raidou's characteristically cool gaze softened as he looked at the violet-haired kuniochi. "No need to apologize. He's the snake bastard traitor who marked you up anyway; not your fault."

"Don't need you telling me that, scar-face," she muttered gruffly, but it was through a smile.

"Well," Neji said, clearing his throat, "if Anko can not come with us… that will be a problem. Orochimaru won against the late Third, as we all know. And that was alone. We've heard bad things about his assistant Kabuto, and if Sasuke is with him… I don't like the idea of a fight against him. Including myself, there would only be two able jounin; his skills are on a Kage level. There are some fights that just numbers can not win; this would be one of them."

Naruto grinned eagerly. "Well, I think we all know where we can find six awesome jounin wiling to help us out!"

There were a couple of chuckles at that, and Raidou sighed in resignation. "Did you ever think of joining the debate team, Naruto?" he deadpanned. "You make such grounding arguments to get what you want. We can't possibly argue with that."

He shrugged defensively. "It's true, though!"

"Though he put it less than eloquently, Naruto does have a point," Shikamaru said with a grin. "We can all agree fighting Danzou first would be a mistake. And we just agreed we would be hard pressed to fight Orochimaru, if that's what it came down to, and win. But those six- well…"

"They could thrash him?"

"I suppose so, yes, Anko."

A silence followed those words, and everyone looked around at each other as they realized the only viable option. People began to smile, but before they could get too excited, Raidou cleared his throat and stood to tower above everyone else, surveying them all with a critical look. "While this is all well and good… you are all getting ahead of yourselves. You do realize what leaving the village without permission means? Naruto, you in particular should be familiar with this. …We will all be labeled as missing nin. Are you prepared for that?"

Naruto stiffened. He had never even considered the idea of abandoning his own village. Sasuke- like Sasuke had…

No, not like Sasuke. Sasuke had left for himself. As much as Naruto understood his poisonous desire for revenge, Sasuke had still left for his own needs and not for the sake of the village; that could not be denied. But that was not what they were going to do.

They were leaving the village to bring their precious people home. They were leaving the village to bring the real Hokage back.

…They were leaving something called Konoha to bring what made the village what it was back to it.

"I don't know about you, Raidou," he began slowly, "but I am definitely prepared for it. I don't want to live in the village that has murder and bloodshed and sacrifice as its legacy; what Danzou envisions, that's not Konoha. So, yeah, if what it takes is leaving and getting a slash through my forehead-protector, then I'm prepared to do it."

It was Sakura who nodded firmly next. She gazed defiantly up at Raidou and began to speak just as Naruto had. "He's right. We're not just doing this for Shishou and Kakashi-sensei and the others- we're doing it for all of Konoha, too. Danzou doesn't give a damn about this village; there's no telling what harm would come to it with him in charge."

Sai shifted rather uncomfortably and glanced from what remained of Team Seven to Raidou. "That's not true, Sakura. Danzou-sama's methods may be questionable, but he's not a power-hungry fool. He genuinely wants what is best for Konoha."

"There had better be a 'but' at the end of that sentence," Kiba cut in warningly, prompting Sai to offer up his trademark fake smile.

"_But_ I do not agree with his methods. Kakashi-senpai, Yamato-senpai, and the others all were honorable shinobi who sacrificed much for this village, and Danzou-sama still saw no problem with killing them just because they could pose a threat to him. I'm with Naruto and Sakura. I'd rather not be a member of a village that weighs shinobi's lives so carelessly."

"I think," Shikamaru said quickly, "that I speak for all of us when I say that we are willing to go to any lengths necessary to rescue Tsunade-sama and the others. Maa, it'll be troublesome, but I think we can all agree that it's worth it. Staying behind in Konoha with what we know now- that would be a true betrayal to the village."

Naruto smiled broadly as, one by one, the members of KYU nodded in agreement with Shikamaru. He turned back to Raidou. "So, it's settled, then. We go after them and get them home, even if we have to become missing nin to do it."

And as the determination of these words settled into the eyes of every single ninja present, Naruto's smiled broadened and he raised his head to gaze up at the dark expanse of stars. _Hang on, Yamato-taichou, Kakashi-sensei. We're coming._

* * *

As Raidou and Shikamaru had ordered, KYU had begun to train in the formations suggested by Kakashi. The teams were simple enough; Iruka had been placed in command of Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, Anko in command of Team Eight, Raidou of Team Ten, and Team Three led by their very own Neji, with Raidou acting as general commander over all the shinobi as well. When possible, Iruka, Raidou, and Anko trained with their new teams, who were already used to working with each other, everyone pushing themselves to new limits they had never reached before.

Naruto's training to develop an original wind-based maneuver had grown so stringent and demanding it bordered on ridiculous. Sakura took longer and longer shifts at the hospital, constantly pushing to develop her skills as a medic further, to rival Tsunade herself- because she knew they weren't bringing her along to punch and splinter rocks; her worth was in her skills as a medic. Sai worked with Iruka, sparring with him for hours everyday in kenjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu, the ANBU operative pushing Iruka past the limits of his endurance.

Ino-Shika-Cho brought their teamwork to new levels. They could tell where the other two members of the team were when their eyes were closed, and the time it took to pull off their famed maneuvers as a trio decreased every day, even if only by a split second. Ino's stamina with her Mind Control jutsu had increased to where she could hold it for almost an hour at a time, Chouji was near the breakthrough that would allow him to increase his entire body size without a single pill, and Shikamaru's Shadow Possession was deadly enough to pin Raidou in place for almost ten minutes before the scarred jounin managed to break it.

Team Eight had rarely seen better days. They sparred for hours everyday, pitting their skills as trackers against one another in ridiculous matches such as hunting down a tiny scrap of metal located miles away. Anko would take on all three of them at once, and sometimes, taught them strategies to use against Orochimaru when the time came, strategies only she knew and only she should teach, only she could _use _as his only student still loyal to Konoha.

Team Three had always trained harder than was healthy. It was no coincidence that a member of that team had progressed to jounin before the tender age of sixteen, that possibly the only ninja incapable of using ninjutsu had made chuunin while as a member of Team Three, that one of the best weapon's users in all of Konoha was a member. But in the days when they awaited Jiraiya's return, they reached a state of almost fevered mania. Lee had always trained so hard he had often passed out, and that was no different now, but now Tenten and Neji did the same. They no longer cared about trying to keep Lee from believing that Gai was alive for the sake of his sanity if it wasn't the case, because they wanted so much to believe it, too.

Missions became opportunities to pit their skills against enemies, enemies that they all fought as the one who had taken their precious people and cut them to the ground like they were nothing more than little pre-genins fumbling around in the adult world. They all rushed through the work to return home and see if Jiraiya was finally back- but he never was.

In fear that Danzou would catch on to what they were planning, Raidou had branded them all with a seal to activate if Danzou or ANBU tried to approach them and arrest them- or kill them. Once activated, everyone else's seals would respond as well, and they would know that Danzou was making his move. It had been decided that if Danzou _did_ approach them before Jiraiya returned, they would have no option but to leave the village immediately.

It wasn't hard to see that most were excited by the prospect.

Raidou had also spoken with Genma's old ANBU team. Normally, he shouldn't even know who they _were_- but working in the Hokage's Tower did have its perks, after all. He had cautiously explained the situation to them and been relieved to find that hating Danzou seemed to be a requirement to be an ANBU member, and learning that their team captain could be alive and that Danzou had tried to kill him didn't do any wonders for their loyalty to the ROOT leader. Now, most members of KYU had an ANBU tail who would intervene if Danzou made his move.

And it was undoubtedly true that every single member of KYU had taken Shikamaru's 'they could still be alive' and twisted it to mean 'they _are_ still alive'.

As Danzou refused to give Naruto any missions that took him out of the village, much to the blond's frustration, he remained home and watched and waited for his master to return so they could finally, finally leave and save their precious people. But the Sannin did not return when he had promised he would.

He almost didn't return at all.

* * *

Naruto was dragging himself home after yet another long day of gruesome, exhausting training when he heard footsteps behind him. Whoever it was clearly wasn't trying to conceal his presence, and his steps were slow and uneven, and the man's breathing was ragged. Naruto was so tired he almost considered not even turning around to check if the man was all right, but when he heard a harsh, wet cough behind him, he really didn't have a choice.

And when he turned around to look at the newcomer, he nearly had a stroke.

It was Jiraiya, and he did not look well _at all_.

The Sannin was stumbling down the street, eyes bleary and unfocused, half of his hair escaping from his ponytail. He wore the plate chest commonly seen on an ANBU though it didn't look like it had done him much good; the metal was rent through by a vicious blow and Naruto could see where the attack had torn shirt and skin underneath. He was clutching his left wrist to his chest, and Naruto couldn't see the injury through the hand holding it, but it looked terrible. The Toad Sage was sweating profusely and breathing through clenched teeth, and, to be honest, Naruto was surprised he was still standing.

"Ero-sennin!" he cried. He sprinted forward to grasp at him before he could fall, and suddenly he remembered, he remembered too much-

_"Naruto, I'm really sorry." _

_"What happened, Ero-sennin?"_

_"I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but…"_

_"But what? What happened? Come on, it can't be that bad!" _

_"I'm sorry, Naruto, but…" _

_"You're really freaking me out, Ero-sennin."_

_"I'm sorry, Naruto, but…"_

"_But_ what?!"

_"Kakashi was killed on a mission." _

He remembered Kakashi-sensei dying, not coming home at all, he remembered Yamato-taichou dying, not coming home at all- the same couldn't happen to Ero-sennin, too!

"Ero-sennin!" he screamed, shaking him by the shoulders and staring frantically into his glazed eyes. "Ero-sennin, are you okay?!"

Jiraiya coughed and focused on him. He was shaking so much and Naruto couldn't help it; he was terrified he was going to die. "P-p-poison," he gasped, almost collapsing onto Naruto right then and there. "M-Mist. Need antidote 325-B. Antidote 325-B. Tell… medics…"

_"Ero-sennin!"_

Jiraiya's eyes fluttered for a moment before they slipped shut, and then his suddenly limp body fell forward into Naruto's arms. The blond caught him by reflex and just stood there in the dark, deserted street, heart pounding, holding the body of one of the only ones left.

Then he took off running. Jiraiya's limp form settling into his arms as he rushed towards the hospital. Whether Kakashi was dead or not- _he wasn't dead he wasn't- _he couldn't let anything happen to Jiraiya. He couldn't he couldn't he couldn't. He couldn't let him go, too.

Naruto finally dragged his master into the hospital and ran right into Sakura, who looked like she had been about to leave to go home. "Sakura-chan!" he gasped in relief, and the young medic's went wide when she saw who was in his arms. "Sakura-chan, you have to help him!"

Sakura blinked, nonplussed, then abruptly snapped into medic mode and turned on her heel, walking right back into the hospital. "I need some help over here!" she called before helping Naruto get the Sannin into the building and on a stretcher. "Naruto, what happened? Did he just get back from his mission?"

"I don't know, I guess, probably- he said to tell the medics that he was poisoned; antidote 325-B, he kept saying antidote 325-B; Sakura-chan, please tell me he'll be okay! He has to be okay- he has to, if he dies too-"

"Naruto, you need to move back and let me work!"

"But, he-"

The rest of Naruto's words were cut off when he was bowled over by another medic, one who was rushing to Sakura's side to help. Naruto scrambled back, craning his neck to still keep sight of Jiraiya before Sakura pushed him out of the room and pointed to the waiting room. "Naruto, you know you can't stay; I'll tell you what's going on as soon as _I_ know what's going on, okay?"

Naruto looked from Sakura to Jiraiya's prone form and started to frantically shake his head back and forth, and the young medic knew right then and there that she had to give her teammate something to focus on or he would lose it. She leaned forward and briefly wrapped her arms around him in what, to all the world, looked like nothing more than a comforting hug. He stiffened slightly in her arms, and then she rested her head on his shoulder to whisper into his ear.

"Tell the others what's happened."

Naruto froze. When Sakura pulled back, the blond's expression remained blank and unreadable, but it quickly shifted into one of understanding, he nodded firmly. "You got it, Sakura-chan."

The two teammates parted ways, then, Sakura heading back into the trauma ward while Naruto turned to run from the hospital and inform the others. But the blond did not set out on his new mission without first casing one frightened look back at Jiraiya's room, and feel in his heart clench in his chest at the thought of losing one more precious person.

* * *

When Sakura finally came out to inform Naruto of Jiraiya's condition, he was not expecting to see a smug smile gracing her tired features. When Naruto shot her a questioning look, the pink haired medic's smile simply broadened as she walked over to sit beside him and leaned back against the wall with an exhausted yawn. "Before you ask, Naruto, Jiraiya-sama is fine. Or will be, at any rate. Did you tell the others?"

He nodded slowly, confused. "Well, yeah, of course- but why are you looking at me like that?"

Sakura simply continued to grin. "Jiraiya-sama was poisoned, as you know. We got him the antidote in time, but, unfortunately, he's going to suffer from the damage it did to his system for quite some time. At least two months."

"Wha… what damage?"

She shrugged lightly at his nervous question. "It stopped the flow of Chakra where he took the hit- his left wrist. He'll have to work to build it up again. Because of where he was injured, seals and techniques will be almost impossible. …He'll have to go on the roster of inactive shinobi until he recovers, but taijutsu and one-handed techniques like Rasengan will still be possible."

Naruto didn't get it at first. He was simply relieved that Jiraiya was okay and that he wasn't going to go through yet another loss, but then, when he looked back at Sakura and took in her still smug look, he slowly began to understand. "Wait… so… you mean, he'll be in the village- but that means-!"

"Exactly, Naruto."

* * *

Jiraiya's return and condition was possibly the best thing KYU could have asked for. With the Sannin village bound and, yet, still able to fight Danzou if absolutely necessary, nothing was holding them back from leaving. All they had to do was inform the Toad Sage of the situation and wait for his other injuries to heal- then they would be all good to leave.

That was how Naruto had ended up walking down a hospital hallway at an unreasonably fast pace, his hands tapping nervously against his sides, unable to calm his frazzled nerves. According to Sakura, Jiraiya would have to be in the hospital for at least three days, but, like Kakashi, the Toad Sage had an arguably unhealthy habit of sneaking out of the hospital days before he was meant to be released. Naruto could only hope he repeated this pattern of behavior soon, because he didn't think he could stand staying in this village a second longer, not when Kakashi and Yamato were out there.

He could only wonder why they hadn't been contacted yet. It was one thing to return to the village and show themselves off to Danzou; the man would probably send them out on yet another suicide mission. But it was quite another to at least send a message out to their teams; Kakashi could've given Pakkun a message to deliver- a 'hey, I'm alive, just so you know' wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

A voice in the back of his mind always spoke up timidly, murmuring that it could just mean that Kakashi really was dead.

But no. That just wasn't true. Iruka wouldn't be able to handle it, and if Naruto knew anything about Kakashi, it was that the man would do anything to keep Iruka happy. Even come back to life, as it were.

His conviction had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Naruto wasn't sure if he himself could handle this light tendril of hope being yanked back and finding that Kakashi really had been dead all this time. Nope, nothing at all.

"_Jiraiya-sama!_"

Naruto raised his head at the sound of a frantic woman's cry, and he sprinted towards the hospital room, musings forgotten as his fear returned-

Inside, he found a very disgruntled nurse standing a few feet back from the bed, her arms crossed tightly over her chest and her mouth in a frown. Jiraiya was watching her with petulant, apologetic expression, waving his hands apologetically as he exclaimed, "-and, now, you just misunderstood, I thought I had glimpsed a bee in your blouse and I only-"

"Jiraiya-sama, you _pervert!"_

Naruto was brushed aside as the nurse stormed from the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving the disappointed pervert behind to shake his head sadly. "Of all the pretty young things who take groping as a compliment, I have to get the one who slaps me. All well. It's kinky; I'll take it. Ahem… yo, Naruto!"

Relieved to find nothing was wrong with Jiraiya- except for the fact that his extraordinarily perverted tendencies were still intact, which most of Konoha probably could've lived without- Naruto stepped forward and smiled. "You know, Ero-sennin, you scared me! Running up to me to pass out on me. I've had enough of my elders passing out on me with Kaka-sensei."

Jiraiya's eyes widened in surprise at Naruto's offhand reference to Kakashi, the blond not seeming to feel any pain or sadness at all when even the mention of his sensei's name had made him look depressed just three short weeks earlier. He opened his mouth to ask what had changed, then ended up just waving him off with his one good hand. "Well then, you should be used to it by now."

"Just because baka-sensei did it all the time doesn't mean I liked it! Ugh… I'm sorry, Sakura-chan always tells me I shouldn't yell at patients, but I always forget. It's not like you can blame me for it! I mean, you're always getting yourself into trouble in the hospital. Do you know how many times a nurse has hit me because of something _you_ did?"

Jiraiya grinned and shrugged as a way of reply. Privately, he mused at how remarkable it was that Naruto suddenly seemed like his old self again, and he knew well and good that three weeks was not long enough to grieve for one's sensei, especially at Naruto's age- but what was he supposed to say? Naruto's happiness didn't seem like a facade, it looked real, but that didn't put Jiraiya at ease.

He was surprised when the blond's eyes were drawn to the uncomfortable cast on his wrist and, oddly enough, it looked like he was fighting the urge to smile. "What, Naruto?" he teased, raising his injured arm. "Is my misfortune so amusing you want to laugh at a poor, tired old man like me? Oh… you young people, having no respect for your elders nowadays…"

Naruto scowled. "I actually brought you something to help pass the time, you know. Kakashi-sensei used to love them when he was stuck in the hospital, but I guess you're just different-"

"Hey, hey! What now? What do you have for me? Come on, you can't leave your master to rot in this place, Naruto! What do you have?"

The blond grinned innocently and slipped a small notebook out from his pocket, rather than a book with a colorful title page that warned all children to stay away. At first, Jiraiya was confused, but when he got it and flipped through it to investigate, he cried out in delight.

"Well, I thought reading your own books would be kind of boring… even though I thought Icha Icha was boring in the first place… so I tracked down your drafts that I saw you working on a whole lot. Don't authors work on drafts all the time?"

Jiraiya nodded eagerly as he flipped to a particularly steamy hospital scene he had stopped working on because he had lost inspiration. When he thought of the feisty nurse from before, ideas and fantasies came rushing back to him that made him itch for a pen, and he clutched the notebook tightly as he gave his student a thrilled smile. "Naruto, I will _definitely_ treat you to ramen for a _week _when I get out of here. Thank you!"

Instead of replying in kind, Naruto hesitated, then reached up to scratch the back of his head awkwardly. The motion made Jiraiya frown, and he almost put the notebook aside for later. It wasn't like his student to seem so nervous and unsure of himself. He paused, then opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but Naruto beat him to the punch.

"Well, um, actually… that was supposed to be an icebreaker… I really need to talk with you. Like, right now."

Naruto's tone was unusually serious, and all hint of a smile had completely vanished from his normally happy features. Jiraiya actually set his notebook on the bedside table and gave Naruto his full attention, now worried. "Oh? What about?"

Naruto bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder. "I'll have to talk fast… Raidou's out there guarding the door and he's using a privacy jutsu, but we can't attract attention so as soon as someone notices him he'll have to go and I want to get this done as soon as-"

"So start talking about whatever it is you have to tell me and stop procrastinating. Though I am kind of interested as to what Raidou's doing here. Namiashi Raidou? Black ops, ANBU Raidou?"

"Yes, but that's not important." Naruto shifted uncomfortably, then closed his eyes and decided to just come out with it. "It's about Kakashi-sensei."


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you for the review!

* * *

Naruto's talk with the Toad Sage had gone very well. Jiraiya had agreed easily to keep an eye on Danzou and intervene if necessary and made them swear not to return home without Tsunade. KYU was as strong as they were going to get and was just waiting on Jiraiya's release form the hospital to leave the village. Those few that had families were saying awkward, disguised goodbyes and were, quite honestly, worrying the hell out of everyone, but it couldn't be helped.

Everything was in place for their illegal departure.

Everything _had _been going well.

Until Raidou had opened his eyes find his bedroom filled with a squad of ROOT operatives.

"Namiashi Raidou!" one of the operatives barked, a katana raised threateningly. "Stand up and put your hands behind your head. We are under orders to bring you in for interrogation under suspect of treason.

_Great. Just fucking great._

When Raidou felt the black seal on his upper arm flare up and burn, he almost closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. This was one of the worst ways to wake up _ever._

After a moment of just wishing he didn't have to move, Raidou slowly spread his hands out and sat upright, careful to make no sudden movements. It really wouldn't do to end up with a katana in his chest before the mission even begun. If Danzou were being this cautious with everyone involved, then he would have to find the others, and quickly. There was no chance of any of them standing a chance against a squad of ANBU. "I'm getting up," he said, beginning to cautiously get to his feet, hoping to get as much leverage as he could before he attacked the squad.

He felt the seal flare up again, another squad member signaling they had been attacked, and wanted to swear. Of course Danzou would attack them all at once.

_Fuck you, Danzou._

Then his morning decided to take a turn for the better.

A split second before Raidou meant to launch himself at the squad, yet another cloaked squad of masked ninja teleported directly in front of him to square off against the ROOT operatives, weapons raised and prepared to strike. He jumped back before one appeared on his head and stared, holding his breath and raising a seemingly worthless kunai. What was going on?

"Raidou!" one of the newcomers called without looking away from the ROOT operatives. "Get out of here!"

He started.

That voice…

"Cat?!" he cried in disbelief, and the ANBU nodded stiffly.

"Yes. Now, get the hell out of here! He made his move against the others and I sent squads out to the ones I could, but we don't have enough men. Whatever it is you're planning to do, you have to do it now!"

Raidou had never been so relieved that Genma's friends in ANBU were not quite right in the head. They were willing to do anything their captain told them, and that included fighting against Danzou, it seemed.

Thank god he had had the foresight to speak to Genma's squad.

"I'm on it. Thank you, you guys."

Raidou flung himself to the corner of the room, grabbed his pack, and was out the window before ROOT could stop him.

All in all, not his best morning.

Raidou closed his eyes as he sprinted down the street, concentrating on his seal. He had designed it to alert him as to not only when a member of their squad was attacked, but where they were, as well. He could sense their Chakra through the seal- but it wasn't exactly easy to track them down when _everyone_ was activating their seal at once.

_Focus, Raidou. Focus._

He had to assume the other jounin had escaped, like he had. That meant they were headed after their squads. He had to go find Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. He had to trust that Sai, Neji, and Anko could fend for themselves and, if not, that the ANBU squads protecting them could.

The protocol was to meet up with your team and flee, to convene tonight at a pre-destined place over twenty miles from Konoha. He just had to get to Team Ten and then escape Konoha, and he would be home free.

He headed for the Akimichi home first. Raidou rounded the corner just in time to see the house explode.

The scarred jounin skidded to a stop to stare at the dust cloud. What the hell was going on? A fight between Chouji and a _squad of ANBU_ wouldn't be anywhere near that dramatic, not unless the Akimichi had been drastically holding back in their spars. Raidou reached back behind him to slip out a weapon as he cautiously approached, eyes narrow as he tried to see through the dust.

Was that a giant fist?

Raidou froze just before said giant fist flailed about, a ROOT operative clutched in its massive grasp, screaming a split second before he crashed into a tree. The dust cleared a bit more so he was able to see that it wasn't Chouji fighting the ANBU squad; it was something even better.

Akimichi Choza was fighting them off and holding his own, fists swollen to quadruple their original size as he defended his son. Chouji was frozen behind his father, eyes wide in disbelief, his own pack on his shoulders, though he didn't seem intent on moving. _Shit._

Raidou dashed forward to pull his teammate away from the fight, ignoring when he tried to pull out of his grasp to help his father. "Come on!" he snarled as he dragged him away. "Do you want everything we've done to be a waste? Your father will be fine! _Come on!_"

Chouji jumped, then complied without question, sprinting down the street after him as Raidou cast one more look over his shoulder at the fight and resisted the urge to join in. "Choza-san!" he called, attracting the fearsome redhead's attention. "Inoichi and Shikaku will be in the same situation as you! Find them!"

"You got it!" Choza deflected another blow before he turned and began to run, in search of the other two members of his famed trio while Raidou continued to move in the other direction. Ino was next. He could only hope the Yamanaka knew the meaning of subtly and wouldn't blow up their house, because the less attention they attracted now, the better.

Sure enough, when he rounded the corner to reach the Yamanaka estate, it wasn't to an explosion- though, admittedly, Raidou would be rather interested to see a mind control jutsu that could blow up a house. He and Chouji ran forward as fast as they could, but the street was eerily silent; there were no sounds to indicate an ongoing struggle, and that worried him- but he knew that neither Yamanaka would go down without a fight.

When he and Chouji burst into Ino's room, he wasn't entirely surprised to see that there _was_ a fight going on- just a mental one. Both Ino and Inoichi were slumped on the floor, unconscious, while the members of ROOT were either on their knees or prostrate on the carpet. Most were kicking or struggling, fighting to throw off the hold on their minds. Chouji grabbed Ino's pack while Raidou, with a quick seal, had flung out Chakra ropes to restrain the ROOT operatives.

"Ino!" Raidou called, already turning to the door to leave. "Get back in your body, now! There's no time!"

A moment later, both Yamanakas stirred. Inoichi was up first and, unwilling to wait for the other, Raidou slung the woman across his shoulders and bounded from the room before the man could protest. He gave the same order to Inoichi that he had to Choza and then the squad was gone, out to retrieve their last remaining member.

Ino took almost a minute to regain all of her strength back and be able to move again, and the moment she did, Raidou set her on the ground and they were running together again, all heading straight for the Nara household.

On their way across rooftops, Raidou caught a glimpse of smoke rising from the Hyuuga compound and couldn't hold back a grim smile. Danzou had some nerve, but against a household full of Hyuuga, Neji and Hinata were safe.

They could hear the sounds of a fight before they could see it. When Raidou led the others down to the Nara household, though, it was to find Choza, Shikaku, Shikamaru, and a squad of regular ANBU fighting against one of Danzou's. Shikamaru caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye and stood, casing a look to his dad. "You guys got this?"

Shikaku only nodded after strangling an operative with his own shadow. "Lousy bastards aren't worth anything against two members of Ino-Shika-Cho. But you care to tell me why my home is being destroyed by Danzou's lackeys?"

"Maa, it's a troublesome tale. Maybe I'll tell it to you someday. Stay safe, Dad!" With that, the young Nara pulled back from the fight to join up with Raidou, who nodded gratefully at Shikaku.

"Inoichi's on his way, but there's a squad of ANBU on his tail. Hold out till he gets here."

"As if we got a choice!"

Raidou didn't bother to answer. He simply turned on his heel and ran to leave the village.

_We're finally on our way, Genma. Just hold out a little while longer._

~End of Part Two~


	12. Chapter 12

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~Part Three~

"Say yes. All you have to do is say yes, and Konoha will be saved, and you will have everything you've ever dreamed of."

Tsunade did not bother replying. She had given up on the futile action a long time ago.

She wasn't sure what Orochimaru even wanted from her anymore.

He had never once interrogated her, or tortured her, or even questioned her. For the Snake Sannin seemed to have taken her because she was a former teammate, and because of simple circumstance- not because she was the Hokage.

Orochimaru's only question over however long she had been his captive was why she wouldn't admit she wanted Dan and Nawaki back.

What he had first tried to tempt her into coming over onto his side, he used them again for the very same purpose.

"I swear I will never force you to go against Konoha, Snake's honor," he hissed, and the tongue that had never been quite so long when they were still a team snuck out from his behind vampiric smile to lick along his pale face. "If you'd like, we could go against the remaining Akatsuki together. I promised Sasuke I would kill Itachi in his body, after all. Only makes sense to kill the rest of the organization along with them."

Tsunade only stirred slightly at that. He had recently begun making hidden references to the 'rest' of the Akatsuki, as if some of them had died. She didn't know what to make of that. He also spoke as if Sasuke had no idea that his new master had kidnapped Konoha's Hokage, and she didn't know what to make of that, either.

"The fact of the matter is, after all the experiments I helped Danzou with, I can't fight him alone. But, with you, Tsunade, we could win. Perhaps even Jiraiya would like to join in on the fun. We could kill Danzou together, because his plans for Konoha are not something even I fancy, and then perhaps your citizens would stop hunting me down simply because I launched an invasion against you three years ago, hmm? I could continue my research without being hunted as an S-class criminal, as that is ever so inconvenient. I know you believe I am up to something else… but I have offered you gestures of good faith. You have simply refused. …I wish I could bring Sarutobi-sensei and your grandfather back for you, too, but we both know that's impossible. Hmm... I could bring back your friend Shizune, if you want."

Tsunade flinched.

"…Dan, Nawaki, and Shizune would not want to come back in your cheap imitation of life at the cost of another's. Besides, you want to live forever. What do you want with me?"

Orochimaru shrugged coolly. "It's simple. I have already outlined the benefits of an alliance between the Sannin once again. It is rather inconvenient, having to switch bodies every few years. Sasuke-kun is my prize body. I may harvest the Sharingan once his body gives out, too, but that is beside the point; your skills as a medic could potentially keep me in one body for decades. Imagine the things I could do, for years, with Sasuke-kun's Sharingan."

"I always imagined you taking Itachi's body after you killed him. If you were even planning to, that is."

Orochimaru chuckled. It was a distinctly snake-like sound and, once again, she was struck by just how much her teammate had changed since leaving Konoha. "I keep my promises. Snakes don't lie."

"On the contrary, that is _exactly_ what snakes do."

"Aah, but slugs live their lives as lumps of sludge, and frogs eat slug and flies. Has Jiraiya eaten you yet, Tsuande? We are not exactly like our summons."

Tsunade had tired of this word play long ago, but that didn't mean she still did not rise to Orochimaru's bait. "Jiraiya and I, perhaps not. You don't see slugs exploding out my arms or frogs out of Jiraiya's, but you seem to be made of snakes."

Orochimaru sighed despondently. "Tsunade, you only seem to be interested in insulting me."

"Pardon me for not showing you kindness after you kidnapped me and killed Shizune."

"I have offered to bring her back, you know."

Tsunade trembled with grief, the grief of yet another loss, even as she spat, "I'd rather die than see you bring her back the same way you did to Tobirama and my grandfather."

"Whatever was so wrong about that?"

"Don't play stupid with me. You know damn well what was wrong with it."

Tsunade still avoided looking at the Snake Sannin, but she heard his constant light footsteps stop and he let out a soft, almost sad sigh. "Now, Tsunade… why are you being difficult? I saved your life, after all."

"You can lie all you want. I don't even care if they're not lies. If Danzou was plotting to kill me, let the bastard come. I was not named Hokage for nothing. Same with the Akatsuki. Besides, if you really cared about my life, then you would've sent Sasuke back a long time ago. Heaven knows he's going to give me a heart attack before I'm sixty, with all the complaining Naruto does about his situation."

Orochimaru chuckled coldly. "Sasuke-kun came to me of his own choice. If he wants to leave, I won't stop him, but he seems quite content here."

"Screw off. If Itachi hadn't hurt him more than you ever could, he would never be here and you know it."

"Well, now I'm insulted. What, I can only get a kid if they're so fucked up in the head they're as crazy as I look?"

"Obviously, since no woman in their right mind would mate with you." Tsunade bit her lip before she could say anything more- before she could remember the days when they were all a team, and Dan and Nawaki were alive, and there was no war, and…

The dark silence persisted for a moment before Orochimaru abruptly knelt so he was in her line of vision. His golden irises glowed faintly in the dim light and pierced into her own, and when he spoke, it was in a faint hiss she had to strain to hear. "Tsunade, why do you not say yes? It pains me to see you suffer like this. All you have to do is agree to come with me, to fight to kill Danzou- to be my medic when I need it, and I could do a dangerous mission or two for you in return..."

"Why the hell should I believe you? You've tried to kill me and Jiraiya more than once. You _killed_ Sensei. You tried to destroy Konoha. I believe you'd do exactly the same if I even entertained the idea of agreeing to your _proposal._ Leading you right to the gates of the village would be worse than leaving that traitor Danzou in charge," Tsuande hissed.

Orochimaru sighed quietly. "I have given you proof of my seriousness in this, Tsunade. I have tried to show you that I do not intend to betray you- but you refuse to accept it. … Dan and Nawaki and Shizune… did you not love them? Did you not love them, Tsunade? Because I can not believe that you did. Otherwise, why would you continually refuse to see them?"

Tsunade spat in his face.

When the man cautiously withdrew, she spoke, her voice a low and furious growl. "You're just a sad, pathetic man who lives in the past. You can't get past everyone you lost, even though you lost me, Jiraiya, and Sensei through your own actions, and you want to live in the past where everything was simple and easy, so you take this macabre version where I'm here against my will and our loved ones are brought back as zombies from the dead. Well, Orochimaru, I'll tell you something- we all long for the past. Get over it. Bringing Dan, Nawaki, and Shizune back won't make me trust you."

It was silent for a long while after that.

Finally, Orochimaru swept towards the door and moved outside. Before he left, he tossed one last insult over his shoulder.

"Longing for the past is not a sin, especially when I can bring them back. But when you refuse to admit you even _want_ to see Dan or Nawaki or Shizune again, I have to wonder if you ever even loved them."

As the man who had been present when she first learned when each of those three had died, it was _him_ saying this that hurt the most.

He had seen her sob over their dead bodies, and he still questioned her love for them?

When the door was shut and locked again, Tsunade hung her head and let herself wonder just when the hell someone was going to come for her.

Jiraiya or death, at this point. Either one would be welcome.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky when four teams began to approach an abandoned shack in northern Fire Country. It was dark and cool, a sign of the receding winter, and the wind was blowing loudly overhead. The gale signaled an approaching storm, and the teams were quick to seek shelter as well as keep an eye out for any pursuers.

As it would be, there were none, and it took only a cursory examination to realize that everyone in their small organization was present, and none were injured.

They had done it. KYU had escaped Konoha.

In retrospect, their graduation to missing nin wasn't really something that seemed like it should be celebrated.

After their initial reunion, the group settled down to stay for the night, all checking that they had grabbed all their supplies in the rush and going over the maps once again, confirming the path they would take tomorrow morning, when they left. Hinata was on watch with her Byakugan in case any ANBU came after them, but, so far, no one had- something that was mysteriously worrisome.

When the chaos had settled down into something controllable, though, Neji stood and cleared his throat, calming the soft babble down into silence. "I think I know something that you all need to be aware of. As we left Konoha early this morning, I kept an eye on the village with my Byakugan. Now, obviously, we are out of range- but what I saw is worrisome."

"Worrisome for us, or worrisome for Konoha?"

Neji grimaced in response to Anko's question. "Worrisome for Konoha, I'm afraid. When Hinata-sama and I left the Hyuuga compound, the majority of the clan was engaged in battle against ROOT- simply because Hiashi-sama was fighting against them for trying to take Hinata-sama... Though I don't doubt he also hates ROOT and Danzou just as much as we do. The other clansmen just joined in. It seems a similar situation occurred in the rest of the village. ANBU squads, courtesy of Raidou and Genma's connections, were fighting ROOT all over the village, and many jounin simply joined in. Chuunin and genin followed suit. Just before Konoha got too far away for me to see, much of the village was engulfed in battle and Tsunade herself- or Danzou- was leaving out of the Hokage Tower, I presume to order all shinobi to stand down, because much of the fighting stopped after his appearance. Then we were out of range."

Hinata hesitantly cleared her throat and spoke up. "Um… I left after Neji-niisan did, so I was able to see more than he did. After the fighting stopped, there seemed to be some sort of standoff between a few ANBU squads and Danzou. It looked as if the fighting was about to start up again before we got too far away to see anything… sorry I can not be of more help."

Iruka shook his head and smiled gently at the Hyuuga heiress. "Don't be sorry; you did what you could and went above and beyond your duty. It's good you were able to tell us this much. Now, what happened to Jiraiya-sama? Did you see?"

Hinata shook her head; Neji merely gave an uncertain shrug. "I wasn't focusing on him, but I believe I saw him joining in the fight desire his injuries."

"Good. Any casualties that you noticed?"

Both Hinata and Neji shook their heads at Raidou this time, and the man sighed in relief. "I suppose," he grunted after a moment, "that it was unavoidable. After all, we didn't expect Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza to react the way they did- or for all those ANBU to show up on our side. But they bought us some time, which is good, and certainly weakened Danzou's hold on the village. When we return with Tsunade, our job will be made easier because of this incident."

Raidou's matter of fact approach did nothing to put the group at ease, but it at least kept worries from being voiced. After all, they couldn't exactly go back at this point. After the chaos their large scale departure had caused, the only thing waiting for the team was a sure execution.

The distressful situation in Konoha only left the small renegade group more uneasy. That night, the shinobi on watch wasn't the only one awake, and when they moved out the next morning, more than one kept casting uncertain looks back at their home as if questioning if they had really made the right choice.

But then they would remember who was waiting for them, and all doubts would vanish.

* * *

Their destination was where Asuma had said the mission had taken place- in northwestern Mountain Country, which was about four days away from Konoha if they kept up their pace. Such a large group was rather noticeable, and with the possibility of them running into any troublesome shinobi who might be very interested to know that almost twenty nin had just defected from Konoha, they split up into their teams of four. They would reconnect each night and Team Seven would find themselves missing Yamato and his ability to make a house grow up out of the ground when they were once again faced with the lovely prospect of lying out on the cold, hard forest floor for the night.

All in all, it was not the most eventful journey of their lives.

Not until the third day, in fact, did anything worthy of note happen at all.

KYU was just coming back together after a day's worth of travel when a messenger bird began to circle over head. Raidou eyed it for a moment before he announced that it was not one he recognized from the Hokage's Tower and thus, probably not sent by Danzou, though the group still waited with caution as the bird descended to land on Naruto's wrist. There was a tiny message tied around one of its talons.

Neji paused for a moment before he turned to Raidou and shook his head. "There's no one human but us in a five mile radius, and there isn't another messenger bird coming that I can see."

Raidou nodded brusquely and moved forward to stand behind Naruto, gesturing for him to remove the message. "Keep an eye out for anyone, Neji, Hinata. This could still be something designed to lure us into not paying attention."

Both Hyuugas nodded and complied in an instant, activating their kekkei genkai while the others moved to form a loose circle around Naruto. The blond read the scroll, then frowned.

_Naruto- _

_Can't say much in case this gets intercepted. But summon Gamakichi. No need to send back confirmation you received this; too risky. _

_-Jiraiya_

"Short and to the point," Raidou muttered, having read it over his shoulder. "But who is Gamakichi?"

Naruto shrugged. "He's my summon- and Jiraiya's. Should I? I think it'll be safe…"

"Can't see the harm in it," Anko said. "Besides, if that old pervert thought it necessary to contact us out in the middle of nowhere with a message that short, it's got to be important."

So Naruto bit his thumb and summoned the frog and, just as Pakkun had been waiting for Iruka to summon him so long ago, it seemed that Gamakichi had also been waiting for this very moment. The red frog appeared in a whirl of dust with a gruff exclamation of surprise, but only seemed surprised to abruptly appear in the middle of a clearing surrounded by humans for a moment before he twisted around to face Naruto, seeming very pleased to see him. "Naruto!" he cried, clapping his webbed hands together excitedly. "You got the message! Fantastic!"

More than one member of the group was staring at the giant frog with looks mixed between surprise and disgust- those who hadn't spent much time with Katsuya were among them- but Gamakichi didn't even seem to notice. Naruto raised his eyebrows expectantly when the summon didn't elaborate. "Um… so, _why_ did Ero-sennin ask me to summon you?"

"Oi. That's a long story, that. Best get comfortable, you guys, we'll be here for hours."

"Well, we were just about to make camp, so we've got time. Go on and start talking."

Gamakichi glanced over at Anko at her order, then suddenly burst out laughing. "Ohoho! _You're_ that feisty kunoichi!"

"…Excuse me?"

The large frog let out a cackle, seeming unaware of any impending danger. "Jiraiya-chan used you for inspiration in one of his novels! You were the kinky girl who tried to mate with twenty different men before finally settling for another woma- ack!"

Naruto and Raidou found themselves struggling to hold the suddenly furious Anko off of Gamakichi. The woman was trying to pound on the frog, all the while yelling out death threats directed at the Toad Sage. "Gamakichi!" Raidou yelled over the fighting woman, ducking under a punch, "Gamakichi, just start talking! Tell us whatever you have to tell us; maybe she'll get distracted!"

Seeming more than a bit frightened of the rather violent woman, the frog complied, though he began by hiding behind a tree so there was at least something to protect him should Anko break free. "Well, it all started two days ago…"


	13. Chapter 13

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* * *

_Jiraiya scrutinized the hooded woman standing before him with a critical eye. She was a slight figure, mild-spoken, seeming to express a mild interest in Konoha. The further she talked of Sand shinobi patrolling Fire country borders, describing how difficult they had made her journey while they strived to keep Konoha safe from any others trying to take advantage of their politically unstable situation, the more she reminded him of a little girl in Rain Country. But the idea was simply ludicrous.  
_

_The woman smoothed out her plain black cloak when her short story finished and pulled on her hood again, the shadows hiding her face deepening. She smoothly gestured at his injured wrist with a graceful flick of her hand. "I was simply passing through Fire Country and saw much smoke rising from this location. It appears I have stumbled upon the Hidden Village of Konoha, but all this fighting? Enough to injure the Toad Sage? What is going on?"_

_Jiraiya shrugged broadly and scratched at the cast uncomfortably. "This is actually from a mission_ before all_ this fighting, if you must know. But what is it to you? You don't even seem like you're from Fire Country."_

_The woman shook her head slightly. "I was actually returning home to Amegakure. If you're worried about me reporting the state of Konoha right now to some of your enemies, like Iwa or Kiri, don't be. Suna seems devoted to keep invading armies out while you settle out your differences in this... civil war. And, besides, I would do nothing to spark an invasion. Surely you, of all people, know how negatively my country is affected when the Five Great Nations are involved in war."_

_Amegakure? And how she spoke of war? That was it; no more beating around the bush. "Look, it's obvious you know who I am- are you who I think you are?" _

_"That depends on who you think I am… Jiraiya-sensei."_

_Jiraiya stared, open-mouthed, as the woman lowered her hood to reveal a cool, judgmental face with skin so pale it could only come from growing up in a land of perpetual rain. Her eyes were an orange of a most unnatural shade that pierced into his very soul, hair of an almost pale purple cut short. She now wore a paper rose the same color as her hair in it, perched precariously behind her ear as a silent warning to anyone who approached that she could do more with paper than fold origami. _

_Jiraiya almost couldn't believe it. "Konan!" he exclaimed, looking her slim form up in down and shaking his head in amazement. "What a surprise to see you here! How have you been?"_

_"To be honest, I've been better, Jiraiya-sensei. But I actually only came here to see what the situation was like in Konoha to know what would happen to my country in the coming days; if we would be used as a battlefield again. It seems we will not be. So I must-"_

_"Wait, wait! You can't just leave like that! We have to talk, catch up- come on! Sit down, tell me, what of Yahiko and Nagato? Wow, it's been years. How are they?"_

_Konan's expression trembled for a moment before the unreadable facade returned, but the pain that had been realized in that brief instant was enough to slow him. A cold, sick feeling settled in his gut and when he led Konan across the room to sit down, he was starting to feel ill with worry._

_The paper-user confirmed his suspicions with a blank look, her voice cool and unemotional. "Yahiko and Nagato are both dead."_

_Jiraiya flinched. Konan's words made it feel like someone had just sucker punched him in the gut. He leaned back in his own seat and exhaled deeply, remembering his earlier excitement with a pang of longing. Did it never end? First Minato and Kushina, and then Sarutobi, and now Yahiko and Nagato, too? The fact that he hadn't seen them in years did nothing to soften the blow._

_"…I'm sorry, Konan." _

_Konan shook her head. "Don't waste your apologies on me. Yahiko has been gone for a long time, and Nagato… well… it was his own choice." _

_Jiraiya narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Already, he began setting grief aside for later, focusing on the situation at hand, his former student's unemotional state helping him pull across the same facade. "Nagato had the Rinnegan. You can't tell me he died in battle; what shinobi could possibly…?" _

_Konan laughed bitterly. "He didn't die in battle. I did. He used his jutsu on me, but one of Pein- ah, one sixth of his Chakra had already been depleted and that was after we had sealed a Bijuu; he simply did not have the Chakra… which he knew, full well. He died to bring me back." _

_Jiraiya simply froze at the wealth of information in her short explanation. It was almost too much for him to comprehend, not after the shock of just seeing his former student out of the blue after decades of no contact whatsoever. "Um… did you say sealing a Bijuu?" Was there someone else out there besides the Akatsuki doing this?_

_Konan did not seem to realize the implications of confirming this, or maybe she just didn't care. She nodded. _

_"But… that means…" _

_"Don't get worried, Jiraiya-sensei. Yes, I was a part of the Akatsuki. But I've left now. Without Nagato and Yahiko there… they are the ones who founded it, after all. Besides, I've begun to question Leader-sama's true motives. I alone can not accomplish what Yahiko and Nagato wanted, so I'm going home to protect Amegakure. That much, I can do." _

_Jiraiya literally had no idea what to say. He stammered for a few seconds, came up with a couple of half-formed question, and ended up just falling silent, which did at least provide Konan with some amusement. The woman smiled. "I made the Toad Sage speechless. I'll be sure to put that on my resume. …Well, catching up is all well and good, but I should probably leave before I do something I regret to Konoha. Goodbye, Jiraiya-sensei."_

_Jiraiya managed to throw off his stupor enough to reach out and grab the paper user by the wrist, his eyes wide. "Wait, Konan! Just… wait. What do you mean, about doing something to Konoha you would regret? And the Akatsuki? What… you have to explain!"_

_Konan tilted her head to side, raising her eyebrows in confusion. The pale arm in his disintegrated in a whirl of paper, only to reform as she backed away and frowned. "You know that Konoha is responsible for what happened to Nagato… and Yahiko, in a way. I'd prefer to carry out their dreams of peace and not take revenge; they wouldn't have wanted that."_

_"Wha- what?! No, we're not! Konan, I swear, Konoha had nothing to do with what happened to them. God, I don't even know how they died!" _

_Konan shrugged. "I will believe you about Yahiko. The only Konoha representative there… that day, was Danzou and his men. Leader-sama later told Nagato and I of some of the man's more unorthodox and illegal ventures and, considering what you told us of your own sensei, I doubt he would condone those actions if he knew. But Nagato? It was just like two villages at war. The squad from Konoha came and clashed with the Akatsuki."_

_Jiraiya leaned over and rubbed the back of his neck, the sick feeling in his stomach only growing even worse. Naruto had told him the mission that had brought death to Kakashi and the others was an all-out battle against the Akatsuki… and, as far as he knew, Konoha and the Akatsuki had had no other contact since the recovery of the Kazekage. Could it be…?_

_"…Konan, Danzou was responsible for that, too. He assigned them the mission, and they had no choice but to comply- oh my god. You were there when they… you were there when they… Konan!" Jiraiya raised his head abruptly and grabbed her by the shoulders before he could stop himself, eyes going wide. "Konan, this is important- you have to tell me, are the ninja from Konoha still alive?!"_

_Her eyes widened in slight surprise, and, for once, she didn't melt into paper under his hands and simply let him hang onto her. "Does Konoha care so little for its own ninja now? It's been over a month since that battle... And I do not know the answer, anyway. All I can say is at least one of them survived. I asked Itachi to remove my memories of the survivors so I wouldn't be tempted to take out revenge on them, and he agreed. I can assume at least one survived because, otherwise, there would've been no point in me asking to have my memories erased; there would've been no one for me to carry out my revenge on. But why? What is it to you?"_

_Jiraiya almost felt like he was going to be sick. He released Konan and stumbled back, his thoughts racing. One of them was alive._

_Which one was it? Kakashi, Tenzo, Asuma, Kurenai, Genma, Gai? Which one of them had survived? _

_Good lord, one of them had survived. _

_"My god… what even happened, Konan? There's a team going out there- does the Akatsuki have the survivor, or did they escape, or…?"_

_"As I said, I don't know. For all I know, all six of them escaped. I'll tell you what I can, Jiraiya-sensei, but that isn't much. Your team killed Sasori of the Red Sand, Kakuzu, and Nagato. I left, so your recovery team only has Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, Deidara, Zetsu, and Leader-sama to deal with. Though Zetsu and Leader-sama don't like to fight. They probably will keep to the background. Still… Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, and Deidara are no pushovers." _

_"I know about Deidara, Itachi, and Kisame," Jiraiya said carefully, already thinking of ways to get this information to Naruto and the others. "But not about this Hidan. Who is he?"_

_"To be honest, he's a religious masochist who I'd rather see dead than alive. He's able to perform a cursed ceremony that links his body and his victim's; as long as he is standing in the cursed seal, anything he does to his own body also happens to the victim's. He is also immortal- even if he chops his own head of, he'll still live. But without Kakuzu, no one will be able to stitch him back up. I was their only medic nin, and I'm gone, too- if you chop him up, then he'll be incapacitated for the rest of the fight." _

_Jiraiya scowled. "Isn't there any one of you Akatsuki who's normal? There's shark-man Kisame, Deidara's got mouths in his hand, and now this Hidan is immortal? Is being half-human a requirement to join?"_

_"…Anyway, as to the team from Konoha, I can't tell you much. The man with the senbon was poisoned, the man who fought with Chakra blades was seriously injured, and the Copy Ninja looked like he was about to keel over- I don't know anything more than that. The green guy, the woman, and the one who could use wood style were doing well, though. But Itachi's jutsu was rough around the edges and I was killed shortly before the end of the fight, so I can't tell you anything about that." _

_Asuma and Genma were injured, then. Or had been about a month ago, at any rate. And Kakashi with Chakra exhaustion wasn't anything to bat an eye about. _

_The situation was better than he had ever dared hope._

_But, of course, only marginally so, since it had gone from six very dead shinobi to six possibly dead shinobi... _

"…And then, Jiraiya-chan told me that it was very important that Naruto got this message and that you should probably be summoning me soon, so I headed home to wait. That was two days ago."

Gamakichi's story was followed by a stunned silence.

None of them knew the story of Jiraiya's days as a teacher to three small students in Rain Country, very few of them had any idea what the Rinnegan was, or why on earth the Sannin seemed so friendly with a member of the Akatsuki-

But the confirmation that at least one of their precious people was actually _alive _was more important than any of that.

* * *

KYU did not get much sleep that night.

Team Three, as well as Naruto and Sakura, spent the time explaining what they knew of Deidara, Kisame, and Itachi to the other team captains. The others alternated between listening in and preparing for the battles they knew were coming, preparing to save their precious people.

Finally, hours after they had made camp, Raidou was kneeling in front of the rest of the group, Kakashi's scroll with the battle formations in front of him. The rest were all listening attentively as he began to explain their strategy.

"Naruto and Sakura both have more experience than anyone else here of the Sharingan. They sparred with Kakashi countless times, worked and fought with Sasuke, and faced off against Itachi's clone during the recovery of the Kazekage. For that reason, we decided it would be best for Iruka-sensei's team to take on Itachi."

Iruka shifted a bit nervously even as he nodded. Uchiha Itachi was one shinobi he didn't want to fight. He still vividly remembered the day the missing nin had returned to Konoha three years ago, when all he'd received was a message only after hours of searching telling him that Kakashi had been seriously injured. He'd sat by the man's bedside for nearly a month afterwards, unable to do anything more than hold his hand and hope, hope that help was coming and that Kakashi was fighting to recover even after that bastard had tortured him into a coma.

If Itachi had been strong enough to reduce _Kakashi_ to that state…

The thought of facing him himself almost made him shiver with fear.

But, this was _for_ Kakashi. If the Akatsuki really did have him, then Iruka would fight a hundred of Itachi if that was what it took to get him back.

"Next, Kisame. He is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and he yields Samehada. I do not know much about him, but I know about his sword; it absorbs Chakra and transfers it to Kisame. For that reason, Team Three is the best choice. Lee fights with taijutsu, not ninjutsu, Tenten fights long distance, and Neji can render his ability to use Chakra a moot point Also, you fought against Kisame on the mission to save the Kazekage."

Team Three didn't look too thrilled about this, either. They all remembered that battle, and that meant they all distinctly recalled Gai being the one to fight Kisame, and then having to save them afterwards. They remembered how it had been a clone with only thirty percent of Kisame's strength, and yet Gai had still barely managed to survive and had gone as far as opening six gates- a feat Lee was still unable to manage.

But they had no choice. It was for Gai. Gai had risked his life to save theirs in that battle and would do it again in a heartbeat; they had no option _but_ to do this.

Raidou turned to the two remaining teams, who were watching him a bit apprehensively. He looked to Team Eight first. "You are going to be fighting Deidara. Your skills aren't particularly suited to this fight, but that is beside the point. Shino, your bugs eat Chakra- if they eat the Chakra in his explosives, then they will no longer pose a threat. Keep that in mind. Hinata, obviously, the more times you can hit him with the gentle fist, the better. And Kiba-"

"Woof!"

"-and Akamaru, you are to work with Anko to keep close to him and make it hard for him to create and use explosives. He can chew clay while running, so it will be difficult, but… anything you are able to do. Be warned."

Shikamaru sighed heavily when Raidou at last turned to him, crossing his arms with a groan. "And that leaves the immortal for us. Perfect."

Raidou nodded gravely. "Yes. Your only job is to hold him still long enough for me to cut him up. You have your own strategies; do whatever you see fit to accomplish this."

"Maa, of course. But your plan is flawed, Raidou-taichou. …Gamakichi mentioned something about two other members of Akatsuki- someone named Zetsu and their leader. If they are there and do, in fact, fight… what happens to all your glorious planning?"

Raidou looked away uncomfortably and scratched at his hair, not seeming to want to answer. It was Anko who gave a feral grin and said, "We improvise like hell and pray. That good with you?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but when she just continued to stare at him, he chuckled. "You're all crazy, the lot of you. Yeah, that's good with me."

"Good!" she exclaimed brightly, then looked back to Raidou. "This is all, of course, assuming the Akatsuki actually has anybody that we're after. I love a good fight, but I don't fancy facing those weirdos anytime soon if it's unnecessary."

"Of course. Since none of the letters said anything otherwise, we can only assume that, if they survived, they were going to stay in the area and show themselves when we approached. Hinata, Neji, you'll be using Byakugon to scan the location just in case. And… even then, if we don't find anybody… we should still do what checking we can to make sure the Akatsuki really has them. …There's no sense in attacking the strongest organization in the shinobi world if they are already dead."

A chilling silence followed his words. Most avoided making eye contact and no one spoke up as they were faced the enormity of the tasks waiting for them, as well as the very real possibility of one of their teammates dying in the fight to come. After all, if these men had been too much for their sensei, their captains, then what chance did they stand?

It was a sign of their love and devotion to the shinobi who had left on that suicide mission so many weeks ago that not one person questioned the danger of the mission. Either they saved their precious people, or they died trying.

There was no third option.

* * *

It was on their fourth day away from Konoha that they approached the northwestern quadrant of Rock Country. Jiraiya had confirmed that their had, in fact, been an Akatsuki base in this part of the country and marked it on their map for them. The radius of Neji's Byakugon's range of sight in was eight hundred meters, and that was how far away from the base they were- nervously waiting for someone to approach them.

No one, either missing Konoha ninja or attacking Akatsuki, did.

Naruto shifted nervously and began to fiddle with the zipper on his jacket when no one came up out of the suddenly cold and harsh seeming landscape. He almost expected to hear a call of, 'Yo!' and would spin around to see Kakashi sitting up in a tree, reading a colorful book and giving them a one handed wave. Or perhaps Gai soaring in from above with a yell of 'Dynamic Entry!", or maybe Yamato melting out of a tree with his scary face on-

But no one came.

They waited until Naruto honestly felt like he was about to throw up before Raidou turned to the Hyuugas in their party, his expression grim. "This doesn't mean anything," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "This doesn't mean anything. They could just be hiding out and not have realized we're here. Neji, Hinata- you know what to do."

Both nodded firmly.

"_Byakugon!"_

Naruto held his breath, watching as both began to scan the area, their expression unreadable. They had to find something. They just _had_ to find something, because if they didn't…

No, if they didn't, then Kakashi and the others had simply been captured by the Akatsuki. That was it. They were not dead.

Neji and Hinata were silent for an impossibly long time. Naruto almost wanted to scream and his fists clenched tightly, watching with his heart in his throat as they searched. He felt a shaking hand come to rest on his shoulder and glanced jerkily up to see Iruka standing by his side. The Academy teacher's expression was torn, and seeing Iruka looking so desperate and frightened only made the blond feel worse.

He leaned against Iruka's side, accepting his silent offer of comfort, and they waited together.

It seemed like years later when the Byakugon finally faded from both Hyuugas' expressions and they turned to face the rest of the group, faces unreadable.

"W- well?!" Naruto exclaimed when they did not say anything. "What did you find?!"

No answer.

"Are they there?!" Kiba yelled, taking a frantic step forward. His voice echoed around the suddenly small clearing and both Hyuugas hesitated for a moment longer before Neji cleared his throat, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead.

"I don't know."

…

"What the fuck do you mean, you _don't know?!_"

Hinata flinched at Raidou's harsh yell and Neji turned to their now almost terrified team leader impassively. The man's hands were fisted by his sides and he was leaning forward, dark eyes wide in fear. "I don't see them- but I do see something."

"Then spit it out, Neji!"

"Tell us what you see!"

Neji cleared his throat at Iruka's pained cry of an order and nodded. "There's a rather large concentration of Chakra underground, a bit over a hundred meters southwest of here. I can't see through it to tell you what's inside. There could be anything in there, from a box of yarn to the entirety of the Akatsuki."

The group fell silent. They all remained tense and uncertain at the new information, all contemplating what this could mean.

It was better than the worst possibility, that was for sure.

But after coming so damn far, to have to wait even longer…

It was torture.

"A-all right," Raidou whispered after a moment, but his hands were shaking so badly his facade of being unaffected was ruined. "What about the Akatsuki? Did you see any sign of them?"

Neji nodded again. "Yes, in the base Jiraiya-sama indicated," Neji murmured, "but aside from a few animals, I didn't see anything living anywhere else."

"Neither did I."

"…Good. In the Akatsuki base- are we too far away to see something specific, as in numbers?"

They both nodded again, and Raidou grimaced before he turned in the direction the Hyuugas had indicated and cleared the lump in his throat. "Okay… okay. Neji, Hinata, lead the way. To the Chakra underground. And hurry."

They didn't have to be told twice. Both immediately turned and began to sprint into the forest, following their eyes and letting the others trail behind. Every single shinobi was pushing themselves to the limit, running as fast as they possibly could, their hearts pounding together as they moved towards what could be the most important people in their lives.

As they traveled, the teams quickly moved closer to each other for comfort, hands reaching out to clasp each others tightly in gestures of comfort and friendship. It wasn't a group of fifteen ninja. It was a group of four teams who just wanted their precious people back.

The short journey lasted for barely two minutes before Hinata and Neji abruptly both skidded to a stop in the same instant. The others dropped to the ground to surround them and Raidou gestured at the ground and glanced at Neji to confirm. When he nodded, Raidou walked to stand above the spot he had indicated and looked around at the others fear-stricken expression.

He took in a shaky breath, and it seemed to take everything he had to hold his composure and stop his voice from trembling. "This could be a trap. When I open up the ground, I'll take Anko's team in case anything up ahead requires an earth-user and investigate; everyone else needs to stay up here and keep watch. Neji, if someone is coming, yell down to us and we'll retreat immediately."

"Yes, sir."

Raidou paused, then brought his hands together into a shaky seal and stared at the ground. "How far down is it?"

"Ten and a half feet."

"Got it. …Listen, everyone. I know how much you want to see what's down here, but you can not go after us. If this is a trap, that will be dangerous. …Now… _Douton: Doryuukatsu no jutsu!"_

A dark hole opened up in the ground in front of the scarred jounin's feet, dirt and mud moving back with the sound of an earthquake. The trees and rocks seemed to tremble and then it was over, and before them all was a black chasm that opened up and led into the earth.

No one moved.

Then, with the hesitancy of a frightened deer, Raidou took a step towards the hole.

* * *

Jutsu:

Douton: Doryuukatsu no jutsu: Earth Style: Earth Flow Divide Technique


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you for the review! Um... I apologize in advance for this chapter... don't hate me yet :)

* * *

Four sets of footsteps sounded softly in the padded dirt.

Four teammates walked down the side of a tunnel.

Four approached a solid wood wall waiting for them at the bottom of the chasm.

Four stopped.

They stood still for one long moment before the tallest among them knelt, withdrew a kunai, and began to smoothly hack away at the surface.

The wait was agonizing. But with each thump of the blade, slivers of wood were carved out of their path, until, finally, there was a clear way down into what waited below.

The four froze.

And then, Raidou raised a hand and waved the team forward. Together, they slipped into the small cavern below.

What was waiting for them was enough to make their hearts stop.

In the middle of the wilderness- under ten feet of rock and dirt- was a small, relatively well-furnished room. The ceiling of earth was held up by thick wooden pillars, five of them, one in each corner and another in the center. The only furniture was four wooden beds laden with bedrolls and twisted, filthy blankets, and there was a flickering fire between two of the beds, the only light at all in the small room. Four packs lay scattered on the floor, though most of the supplies were lying on the beds or on the ground.

There were also four ninja who had been presumed dead.

Asuma was crouched on the ceiling in a fighting position, ready to pounce, looking a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. His right arm was raised and wielded a glowing Chakra blade while his left was heavily bandaged and streaked with blood, so much of it that it was impossible to tell what was old and what was new, what was his and what was not. His dark skin was caked with sweat and dirt and his hair stuck up in unruly spikes, and he looked as if he had lost enough weight to be considered unhealthily close to the edge of starvation.

Even as tired and haggard as he appeared, though, he was still far better off than the other three.

He was conscious, for one.

Kurenai was fast asleep on one of the beds, the sheets pulled up to her chin. She looked just as thin as Asuma and her breaths were shallow, dark circles under her eyes as if she had not slept in months. She was shivering under the blankets and her skin was deathly pale, her usually dark and thick curls seeming thin and limp.

Yamato looked like he was in a similar position as Kurenai. Gaunt, pale, tired, barely breathing- the wood user, too, was unconscious, but there was a pained expression on his face, and his emaciated frame shook under the thick blankets, as if the stifling space was actually as cold as could be.

Genma was easily the worst. Yes, he was starved, ashen, exhausted, same as the others, but his skin was glistening with sweat, and they could all hear him muttering weakly and deliriously under his breath. His trademark senbon missing and he tossed his head from side to side, tremulous wheezes matching time with his slight convulsions.

No one moved for one long, shocked moment.

And then Asuma actually fell from the ceiling to slam into his own bed, his arm flopping above his head and Chakra blade sliding from his limp grip. "You figured it out," he whispered, voice sounded beyond relieved and amazed. "You… you did it."

His words broke the spell. Team Eight streamed into the room to crowd around Kurenai's limp form while Raidou ran straight for Genma. The scarred jounin threw his arms around his lover's neck and buried his head in his shoulder, not even caring at how terrible his condition seemed, just that his heart was beating and he was alive.

Raidou muffled a sob into Genma's shirt, tightening his hold on the man, determined to never let him go. "Genma," he whispered, voice weak and incomprehensible through his sobs. "Genma, Genma, Genma. _Genma_. I'm here, you're here. You're here. I love you. I love you. I love you." He was repeating himself and couldn't stop, he couldn't stop because nothing mattered except that Genma was here and that alive.

Across the room, Team Eight was gathered around Kurenai's bed. Kiba and Shino sat on either side of their sensei while Hinata knelt at her head. The Inuzuka and the Hyuuga attached themselves to their unconscious sensei in a storm of relief while the bug user slowly lowered himself onto the edge of the bed, trembling. "S-S-Sensei!" Kiba cried, reaching out with a shaking hand to clasp Kurenai's cold, clammy one. "Never s-scare us like that again!"

Akamaru barked loudly in agreement and licked her face affectionately, but when the woman shivered, Shino knocked his teammates away. "Stop it, both of you! Can't you see that she is unwell?!"

Kiba's eyes widened when Kurenai coughed slightly in her sleep and he whirled around to stare at Asuma in fear. "Wh- what's wrong with her?!" he stammered, but before the tired jounin could answer, Hinata gave a tiny gasp and her hand flew to her mouth.

Kiba and Shino whirled to face the small Hyuuga, who had activated her Byakugan and was staring at Kurenai in worry. "Her Chakra!" she exclaimed in a small voice. "Her Chakra levels- they're so low!"

The team turned to Asuma in confusion, but the man waved his good hand in the air lethargically with a weak cough. "Ex-explain l-l-later."

Team Eight all turned back to their sensei urgently. Kiba continued to hold her hand while Hinata nervously rested a hand on her blanketed knee, pale eyes wide, and Shino shifted just a bit closer, still shaking. "H-hang on, Kurenai-sensei," Kiba whispered, his voice close to breaking. "We'll get you back home soon."

Akamaru licked her cheek again, and this time, the woman did a bit more than shiver. Her eyes fluttered slightly and her head turned to the side. Her team watched urgently, frozen, not even breathing as she let out a shaky breath and then, ever so slowly, opened her eyes.

Her voice was weak and barely audible, and it seemed to sap all of her strength to speak at all.

"Y-you… guys…"

"They found us, Kurenai," Asuma called softly. "Figured us out. Knew they would."

"I told you to believe in them…" When her voice trailed off weakly and a slight cough shook her frame, Kiba's hand tightened in worry and he leaned over her, eyes wide.

"K-Kurenai-sensei! Don't talk, all right? Are you okay? Wait, don't answer that! Ah, um…"

"She's all right, Kiba," Asuma answered. "Just tired. But you need to get her and the others out of here, now."

His words reminded him that they weren't alone, and they turned to look briefly at the everyone else in the room, though they never once moved from Kurenai's side. Raidou still had his arms wrapped around Genma's prone form, his head buried in the crook of his neck. He was muttering words so soft the others could not hear them into his unconscious lover's ear, but the silent sobs shaking his frame said enough.

Hinata's Byakugon was still activated, and thus, she was able to see that Yamato's Chakra levels were just as low as Kurenai. She frowned nervously and glanced to Asuma. "Um, Yamato-san doesn't look well- is his only problem Chakra exhaustion?"

Asuma's nodded slightly in one tired motion. "Like I said before, we need to get them out of here. And Genma needs a medic, right now. Is Sakura…?"

Shino nodded without once turning away from Kurenai. "Yes. Everyone mentioned Kakashi-sensei's letter came. They're all waiting for us up above."

"Good. Okay, guys… let's move out." He sat up weakly and made to stand before falling against the wall with a pained grunt. He moaned. "Ugh… Raidou, I'm sorry… could you-?"

The scarred jounin clung to his lover for one long moment before he sat upright shakily, tears still running unabashedly down his cheeks. "No. It's fine. Kiba, help Asuma. Get Kurenai onto Akamaru. Shino, take Ten- um, Yamato. Hinata, lead the- wait. Wait. …Asuma, where are Kakashi and Gai?"

Asuma's expression shuddered to be replaced by guilt and pain. He hung his head, shutting his eyes tightly, and for a moment what little Chakra he had sharpened into a furious urge to kill.

"…The Akatsuki captured them."

A horrible silence followed his words.

Finally, Raidou's voice broke that dark moment, hesitant and disguising emotion. "Everyone, get to work."

His team all nodded slowly and began to follow his earlier orders, but the sense of euphoria had been reduced dramatically. Kiba helped situate Kurenai onto Akamaru before going to slid Asuma's good arm over his shoulders while Shino crossed the room to heave Yamato's limp form into his arms. Raidou then stood, Genma cradled against his chest, and looked down at the Hyuuga. "Neji watching? Okay, then tell him we're on our way up so we don't get jumped by a bunch of paranoid ninja."

Hinata nodded and moved to climb out of the hole in the ceiling. She stayed up there alone for a few seconds, then signaled down it was safe and then, Team Eight and their charges slowly began to move out the dark, underground room.

* * *

Above ground, Neji narrowed his eyes and focused as the figures moved out of mass of Chakra that blocked his vision. There was Kurenai… Yamato… Asuma… Genma…

No one else.

_Where was Gai?_

"Th- they're on their way up," he whispered, but he could barely hear his own voice and he hardly managed to stop himself from stepping forward, from running to the edge of the hole.

Where. Was. Gai.

He faintly heard Naruto yell something at him but he didn't answer; why weren't they moving any faster so he could see that Gai really was there, where was Gai, where was he-

"Neji, this isn't funny! Who's with them?! Is Kakashi-sensei there?!"

Neji didn't answer. He couldn't.

He couldn't say that Kakashi wasn't there and face Naruto's stunned gaze falling into despair, Sakura's doe-eyed look filling with tears, Iruka's terror, and Gai-

Well, he didn't fully believe himself that Gai wasn't there.

First came Hinata.

Then Akamaru and Kurenai, and the sight of a dead woman very definitely alive was a good thing that renewed and fostered hope.

Then came Shino and Asuma, and Team Ten dashed forward with cries of joy.

Then Kiba with Yamato, and Team Seven all gave little sighs of relief.

Then Raidou with Genma.

There was no one else.

It was still for one agonizing moment before Lee let out a scream of his sensei's name. Then he was running, sprinting towards the edge of the chasm and peering frantically over into the abyss, black eyes wide in terror. "_Gai-sensei!_"

Tenten was less uncontrollable, but only just. She, too, ran forward to fall to her knees besides Lee, her hands fisting in the dirt as she stared into the darkness, beginning to shake, eyes rapidly filling with tears.

Naruto and Iruka remained leaning against each other, expressions frozen in twin rictuses of shock. Sakura's shoulders were shaking, and her hand was clutched over her mouth as if to stifle a cry.

In that moment, Iruka felt his heart shatter.

Hinata hesitantly approached her cousin, seeming unable to meet his eyes. "U-um… Neji-niisan… I'm so sorry, but Gai-sensei's not…"

Neji's voice was an odd, choked off version of his typical tone, and his eyes were a far off and distant look of horror. "I know, Hinata-sama."

"N-no- he's not dead! Asuma-sensei said that… that… the Akatsuki has him and Kakashi-sensei."

Somehow, over Lee's frantic screams and the beginning of Tenten's sobs, the other teammates heard her. They both spun around to stare at her in horror, and it was literally less than half a second before Lee had suddenly appeared in front of the Hyuuga heiress and grabbed her by the collar, shaking her in a blind fury. "You're wrong!" he yelled, agonized voice echoing throughout the clearing. "You're _wrong!_ Gai-sensei would never let them take him! He's too strong! He's too strong for that! _You're lying!_"

Iruka's limp arm slipped out of Naruto's hands as his legs gave out from under him. He fell to his knees and sat numbly, actually feeling his heart throb in protest as it tried to break. His world spun and he felt the contents of his stomach try to rise.

The Akatsuki had Kakashi.

Iruka had come all this way, believed for so long, and all his tender hopes had been resting on pulling his silver-haired lover into his arms again and never letting him go. He had thought it was finally over.

His arms ached at the cold emptiness instead of Kakashi he was holding, and then his stomach rebelled and he threw up onto the ground.

He sensed rather than heard Sakura fall beside him, and then Naruto was yelling.

"You fucking bastards!" he screamed at Kurenai, who just happened to be closest. He slammed a fist so hard into the earth it cracked, and his next yell was more than half a sob. "How could leave him with them?! How could you leave him behind?! He would do anything for his teammates; he would die for you and you just left him with the Akatsuki?! You stupid sons of..."

Naruto's screams trailed off into sobs and Team Eight crouched helplessly around him and Kurenai, too hesitant to intrude on the blond's wrath. They understood his fear and his anger all too well.

Kurenai gazed sadly up at him, her half-lidded crimson eyes betraying her own guilt, and she said nothing to get him to stop.

She only whispered three words, words so soft Naruto didn't even hear them, but they seemed meant more for herself than him, anyway. "I'm so sorry."


	15. Chapter 15

Thank you all for reviewing! The line about saving Yamato's sorry ass, then fine ass, is taken from my friend. I asked when they were ever going to get around to saving his sorry ass, and she said 'that fine ass needs saving'. Then she went on to talk about creating a church dedicated to worshiping that fine ass. ...I probably should get some new friends :)

* * *

Asuma's attempts at a cool greeting and a sweet smile were just utterly crushed. How was he supposed to grin with his mouth hidden in Chouji's bushy hair, his arms around his neck, how was he supposed to greet them over Ino's sobs? And Shikamaru, well, he just looked like the most relieved boy alive. His brown eyes were narrow in an attempt not to cry and his hands were shaking as he clutched a small metal object- a lighter.

"Asuma-sensei…"

"You don't do that to us again, Sensei!"

Asuma just smiled in response to Chouji and Ino while Shikamaru kept silent, the Nara on his knees, a broad smile tugging on his lips.

The blond reached out to lightly probe the wound on his arm with Chakra, her clear eyes narrowing in concern. "What is this? Are you all right? What happened?"

Asuma tried to shrug her off as he leaned back against a tree for support, but the woman just hung on tighter. "It's nothing, I'm really fine- look at Kurenai, Ino, she needs-"

"Stow your pride up your ass. I've had enough of you damn jounin!" Despite her harsh words, Ino's voice was trembling and tears were still streaming down her cheeks as she looked over his arm. "We didn't come this far for you to die on us now. Tell us how you were injured!"

Asuma blinked, looking down at his female student in surprise. Neither one of the others looked the slightest bit surprised at her outburst, and he slowly relaxed before offering his arm for her examination. "Ino, you've got more outspoken."

"Of course I have! Who else was going to keep these two in line?"

Asuma stared at her for a moment longer before he allowed himself to smile at his team.

Meanwhile, across the clearing, Anko was kneeling next to Tenzou, who was slumped against a tree, grinning broadly while giving him a once over. "Lucky son of a bitch, you know that?"

Tenzou barely flinched in response, nor did he react to her light punch on his shoulders, still completely unconscious. The kunoichi rolled her eyes at his silence, as if he were choosing not to respond, and laid him out on his back. "Scaring us all to hell, Yammy. And now you gave yourself Chakra exhaustion; I know you like to rule by fear, but this is a bit much, don't you think?"

When Tenzou just remained asleep, Anko laughed and patted him on the head like he was a dog. "Well, now there's two of us again. Two little lab rats. Although people never seemed to look at you weird, only me. Ah, Tenzou. Now I _finally _have someone to experiment with! I've thought of some new positions, too… Damn. It's just not as fun when you don't oh so politely decline my 'sexual invitations'. You get so flustered it's cute."

A bit unfortunately, Team Ten and Anko the only ones reveling in an ecstatic reunion. Team Eight and Raidou had already celebrated theirs underground, and Team Gai and Team Seven had no one to celebrate it with.

It went unspoken that Ino was going to be the one to heal the injured survivors. Sakura was going about examining Yamato in tears, and she didn't look like she had the focus to heal anyone else. While Ino began working on her three patients with a smile, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai knelt besides their once team captain, Iruka's limp arm in Naruto's grip, his gaze blank and numb.

"Don't worry," Sakura murmured, feeling for Yamato's weak but steady pulse. "He'll be okay… just tired. Naruto, can you get me a blanket?"

The blond quickly rummaged through his pack while still keeping watch over the captain. "He looks so exhausted, though. I mean, Ka- Kaka-sensei never looked this tired, except for maybe that one time he used Mangekyou against Deidara…"

"I know. It would help if we knew what the hell happened to him, but the only thing wrong with him that I can find is the Chakra exhaustion." Sakura gingerly pulled the blanket up around his shoulders and slid his headband off, then forced a watery smile up at Anko. "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Anko grinned and patted him on the shoulder so viciously it had to hurt, even though he was unconscious. 'I know, I know. Yammy likes complaining about how much we overwork him cause of his special wood powers, but he's really fine. I bet he's just being lazy right now."

"Yammy? Does Taichou know that you call him that?"

"Of course he does! Yammy and Tenzi. He likes it."

Naruto glanced down at his prone captain doubtfully while Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Tenzi?"

Anko waved her off and licked her lips with her creepily long tongue. "He's got a lot of nicknames. You know, he's the type that's easy to pick on, because he's like a doormat. Not to his team, of course- you guys wouldn't know. But Kakashi likes to pick on his kohai; I'm sure you've seen him being taken advantage of."

Yamato shifted a bit and moaned, and Sakura gently rested her hand on his clammy forehead, smoothing his hair back. "Shut up!" she hissed to Anko, who blinked in surprise. "You're disturbing him."

As if to prove her point, Yamato's head rolled to the side and he winced, letting out a low groan. And then it was Anko patting his shoulder, slipping into a more comfortable sitting position as her features rearranged themselves in a smile. "Calm down, Yammy. Team KYU showed up to save your sorry ass. Or your fine ass, as it may be."

Sakura's eyes widened while Nartuto stiffened, looking between his captain and Anko in surprise. Sai just offered up his trademark innocent smile.

* * *

The relieved, unofficial reunion continued for as long as they could risk before Anko took charge. Raidou was entirely focused on Genma's condition and wasn't in any position to lead, so she quickly ushered the team to withdraw from Akatsuki territory. They only traveled for a few minutes, though, to be two miles away from the Akatsuki before they came to a stop and an abandoned house that they had passed earlier that day. They quickly got the injured settled and seen to, Asuma explaining the situation as they did.

"Kurenai and Yamato are the same," he said quietly, Ino and Sakura examining the two ninja worriedly. "They had low Chakra reserves already when Yamato made us that shelter underground to hide from the Akatsuki, and then things just got worse. Yamato was the only water jutsu user, so he had to keep creating water for us since we didn't have any, and he had to remake those pillars holding the ground up from killing us every four hours so they wouldn't break. And then there was the firewood, since we didn't fancy living in complete darkness… every time he got a little bit of Chakra back, we used it again."

Sakura nodded tensely without looking up. She absentmindedly tucked the blanket tighter around her captain and felt his forehead with the back of her hand again before the wind user shifted to look at Kurenai. His expression changed to become tender and worried as he took her hand.

"What happened to her, Sensei?" Ino asked quietly, and he didn't once look away from the unconscious genjutsu user's face as he began to explain.

"…Genma was poisoned in the fight with the Akatsuki. None of us had anything but standard antidotes with us, and they weren't working, and he's immune to everything under the sun, anyway. The poison didn't seem to be doing anything to him but killing him through the pain, though. Kurenai… Kurenai would put him in a genjutsu where it didn't hurt, to keep from dying, and it worked. But she had to use genjutsu nearly constantly and she… she was really hurting herself to keep Genma alive. I know it's just Chakra exhaustion, but…"

Team Eight looked at their sensei in new wonderment while Ino slowly examined her. "She looks just like Yamato," she murmured at length. "I can't really do anything for her… she just needs to rest." Then, with another reluctant look at Asuma's injured arm, she shifted across the floor to look at Genma.

Without Kurenai's genjutsu, the poor man was starting to moan in his sleep. Raidou was kneeling by his head, one shaking hand tentatively moving through his honey colored hair while the other tightly clenched the fabric of his pants in a fist. His expression was torn and fearful, dark eyes raking his lover's trembling form in cold terror. He took one look at Ino and his devastated expression nearly made her flinch; he gazed at her with a pleading look in his eye, begging her to help, and she nodded at his silent request before closing her eyes and focusing.

She was quiet for almost a full minute, her hands glowing green as she scanned the suffering man's body. Finally, her shoulders relaxed and she raised her gaze, forehead still creased in worry and concentration. "The poison is becoming less potent, if slowly. But we can't leave him like this. Sakura! I need your help."

The pink-haired medic reluctantly moved to Ino's side. She listened to her friend's rundown on the senbon sucker's condition and then, both medics went to work. Raidou watched, his heart in his throat, as they began removing the last vestiges of the poison that had all but broken down after ravaging his lover's system. The man continued to sweat and wheeze, head flopping back and forth as black toxins were pulled out of his weakly thrashing body.

Suddenly, he let out an agonized moan. Raidou reached out to grasp his hand tightly, the other still mixed in with sweat dampened strands, and began to whisper to him. "It's okay, Genma. S'okay now. I'm here, Raidou's here."

"No… not…"

Raidou buried his head in the man's neck with a desperate sob, clinging onto his hand with all of his strength. "I love you. I'm here. I love you." Genma's pained moans made it felt like someone was reaching into his chest to squeeze his heart until it burst.

Genma abruptly jerked, bucking against his hold and throwing his head back. Raidou recoiled in horror, eyes going wide when the man screamed in agony. It sounded like he was being burned alive.

"Hold him down, Raidou-taichou!" Sakura cried, her hands starting to shake from the exertion. "We're almost done; you have to hold him down-"

"What are you _doing _to him?!"

"Saving his life! The poison is just fighting us! _Hold him down!_"

Raidou threw himself over Genma's struggling form, pinning his wrists to the ground and leaning so his mouth was right by his ear. "Shh. Shh. Stop fighting, Genma, it's okay now. Stop fighting. Please." His voice was strained and painful and Genma's struggles made his chest hurt. "Shh… shh…"

Genma finally fell back to the ground, limp and boneless and exhausted. He was panting for breath and still unconscious, eyes fluttering restlessly under his lids, and Raidou dimly heard Ino begin talking in a tired voice.

"He'll be okay… we got it all out, Raidou-taichou. He'll be okay. Just a little weak and sore."

"Thank you." His words were a half whisper, half sob, though he didn't break away from Genma. He just stared at their clasped hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world, eyes wet. The two medics respectfully backed away, as eager to go back to their loved ones as they were to escape the awkward silence that hovered between two lovers and two doctors.

And through it all, Team Gai huddled close together for comfort, for hope, and Iruka and Naruto leaned against each other to try and remember that Kakashi was not dead. The joy of their teammates was painful to bear, and they only did so by believing, without a doubt, that their loved ones, too, were alive.

* * *

Tenzou flexed his tired hands before he was even fully awake. It was oddly noisy; he heard things besides pained, weak breaths and the sounds of Genma sinking further into delirium. He shifted a bit in confusion, and found that he was wrapped in soft, warm blankets, not the shabby excuse for cloth that was thin, torn, and constantly soaked in sweat. What was going on?

He shifted again, and this time, a voice responded.

"Yamato-taichou!"

Tenzou froze. Yamato? No one called him that- no one, but…

His eyes flew open in shock.

Sakura was leaning above him, all pink and brilliant green and the colors were almost blinding after the darkness of the underground for so long. He wheezed, the tension of his earlier fear draining away at the sight of a familiar face and he felt his head spin, and he almost passed out again right then and there.

"Taichou, calm down, okay? You really don't have the strength to be getting worked up right now."

He gulped in a great breath of fresh air and that, too, was wrong, not the stale dank air of underground but one that tasted of spring and outdoors and life. His deadened, sore muscles protested as his chest heaved for more and he blinked, trying to clear the dizzy spots out of his eye so he could see.

"Calm down, Yamato. It's just the kids. They found us."

There. That was something he knew. That voice… Asuma.

The kids found them?

With another breath, it all came rushing back, and along with it came a feeling of relief so intense he could hardly breathe. He blinked and now he could see again, see Naruto and Sakura kneeling over him with expressions a frightening mix of sorrow, fear, concern, worry, but, most prominent among them all, relief. They both sighed and deflated when they saw him calming down, and then suddenly something was poking him in the shoulder so hard it hurt.

"What kind of a shinobi are you? You practically have a panic attack when you wake up. If that's all it takes to break you now, I'm never going to be able to use you for any sexual experiments again."

Well, that was just an odd thing to hear.

He glanced up to his right to see Anko crouched next to him, watching him expectantly as if it were the most normal comment in the world. He blinked, nonplussed, then Asuma answered for him.

"Anko, I think Yamato sees that as a huge plus."

"Oh, what would you know? Kurenai domesticated you years ago. You have no idea how good a time I could show you."

Asuma groaned loudly at that and Tenzou tried to sit up. He groaned when it only took him a second for his body to fight back and protest, tired muscles screaming at him to stay on his back and he let his head thump back to the ground with a tired gasp. "Stay still, Yamato-taichou!" Sakura cried as his vision spun. "Don't push yourself!"

He coughed, blinking again. "Owww…" he grumbled. "R-really starting to sympathize with Kakashi-senpai… Chakra exhaustion sucks."

He saw the children's expressions shift at their sensei's name and wanted to kick himself. _So they didn't save Kakashi and Gai before getting us. Thanks for the warning, Asuma._

Clearing his throat, he glanced over at the Sarutobi, searching for a change of subject. "You get your arm looked at?" he asked, then flinched at the explosion his words created.

Inoichi's daughter- what was her name again?- smothered her sensei in an instant, examining the bloodied wound on his arm and yelling at him while she did. "You idiot!" she chastised loudly, unwrapping the bandages so she could get a look. "I knew it! I knew it was more than 'just a scratch'! Stupid jounin! Baka sensei!"

Asuma smiled good naturally, allowing his student to practically assault him, even as he shot an exasperated look at him over his shoulder. "Thanks for that, Yamato."

"Anytime."

Sakura handed him a small canteen of water and ordered him to take small sips, voice tight with concern, while Naruto just grinned at him. Yamato had to wonder how they could seem so worried and focused on him when their sensei was still missing.

But when the blond tucked the thick blanket a little tighter around him and the pink-haired medic slowly began unwrapping a rations bar for him, the same way one might peel an apple at a loved one's hospital bed, he began to wonder if he wasn't quite as alone as he had once thought.

"Eat slowly, Taichou," Sakura commanded, Naruto helping him sit up a little so he could swallow. "Asuma-sensei told us that you ran out of supplies four days ago, and that you were just living on rations bars before that, so your stomach won't be able to handle much right now."

Yamato nodded in agreement before slowly taking a bite out of the unappetizing dinner. Food severely disinterested him right now, which was certainly better than the painful hunger they'd been subjected to in their first weeks of near starvation- but he still forced himself to nibble slowly at the meal. Eating something that tasted like cardboard and settled in a nonexistent stomach was certainly better than starving to death.

"How are the others?" he asked between bites, and Naruto smiled.

"Sakura and Ino fixed Genma up. He'll be fine. Kurenai-sensei's still asleep but she's just got Chakra exhaustion like you; she'll be okay. Damn you all, scaring us like this."

"Aah… well… we're sorry?" he said awkwardly, prompting the blond to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, right."

Meanwhile, across the room, another man was beginning to wake up. Genma's eyes slowly fluttered open to what he was convinced was the sweetest thing Kurenai had ever done for him. Usually, her illusions were lazy, just bland realities of black, white, and grey, or good memories of hers that he was inserted into for convenience. She had never done anything so personal for him before.

And it was very, very nice.

He lifted his hand to stroke through his Raidou's hair while he still could, then grimaced when pain from that simple motion shot up all the way up his arm to his shoulder. Ow. Talk about sore.

Then he noticed he wasn't in a bed at home- or a bed anywhere, or anywhere comforting at all. He had to admit that he didn't know much about genjutsu, but wouldn't it have been easier for Kurenai to put him in a bed back in Konoha than on a futon on the floor… wherever they were?

And he and Raidou weren't alone. The small, dirty room was _filled_ with people. There was Asuma, Tenzou, and Kurenai, then others that he didn't recognize, tons of little brats huddled around the raggedy survivors like they were pieces of driftwood in a thrashing sea.

_And just what kind of comparison was that? _

It took Genma and his poor, fever-addled brain a moment to entertain the possibility that this might, possibly, be _real_.

Well, there was only one way to test that theory. And, thankfully, it didn't seem to be very hard to pull off.

_Hehe… hard… wow, Raidou's right. I'm hopeless. _

It wasn't, strictly speaking, his fault, he reasoned. It really wasn't. After all, it had been so long since he was conscious and not in pain- he was just very, very happy to be alive. And he hadn't seen Raidou in so long- he had always known it was a possibility that he wouldn't see him ever again. And now, his lean, muscly form was stretched across his body, arms around his neck, head buried in his shoulder, chest rising and falling against his, hot breath tickling his ear. He couldn't very well be blamed for the growing erection that was pressing itself against his lover's thigh.

All he could do was wait for it to wake Raidou up. There was no way Kurenai had correctly guessed what Genma's reaction to that would be.

Raidou gave a soft moan on top of him, and Genma bit his lip and clenched his fists by his side. The things that moan did to him…

When Raidou groaned again, Genma rolled his eyes to the sky and bit down on his lip harder. He couldn't resist any longer and shifted to lick the man's ticklish earlobe and sink his teeth into it. He quietly muttered around the obstruction in his mouth, "Raidou, _honey_, do you think you could wake up? Because this is a bit uncomfortable…"

Honey. That should do it. He only called Raidou that to be sarcastic, only ever in the privacy of their bedroom… or, one time, in a storage closest in the Hokage Tower.

That had better get him up, because he was quickly running out of options.

Raidou's head shifted against his neck, and then he abruptly froze. His lover's body tensed, and Genma found himself smiling broadly, waiting for his reaction.

Raidou slowly pulled back to stare at Genma's erection. He looked at it, then his eyes, then it again.

Then he finally spoke.

"…You…"

Genma raised his eyebrows questioningly, smile broadening.

"…Pervert."

He giggled. It was a very unmanly like giggle, that was for sure, and it only made Raidou grin. "You…"

"Well, are you going to do something to take care of it, or are you just going to stare at me like that?"

Raidou blinked, and then his face was split by a smile and he was throwing his arms around Genma's neck again, hugging him so tightly his sore body protested. Genma kept silent about it, more than willing to put up with a little pain if it meant he could hold Raidou again.

"Oh! Genma-san! You're awake!"

Genma growled, instinctively tightening his arms around Raidou and cursing however dared to interrupt this moment, but his lover reluctantly pulled back a bit, though still kept a firm hold on his hand. When Raidou moved, it allowed him to see a young woman he recognized as Haruno Sakura, the Hokage's student. She was watching him with a clinical eye, which was quickly drawn down to his erect member now that Raidou was not obscuring it.

Her cheeks grew a delicate pink, her eyes going wide, and she quickly ducked her head in embarrassment. "U-um, ahem, ah… well then. Um… I'm just going to…" Her eye flicked from him to Raidou in disbelief and she quickly turned away, now biting her lip to stop an outburst. "L-look, Genma-san, you're still a b-bit weak, so, you have to stay on b-bedrest… oh! By bedrest I mean rest, not… no sex! Ahh…"

"Good job, Genma," Raidou admonished, voice shaking with laughter. "You just mentally scarred her for life."

"It's my specialty!"

Raidou chuckled weakly and looked down at him, then abruptly leaned to smother his lips in a kiss. Ggenma reciprocated hungrily, wrapping one tired arm around his neck and opening his mouth to receive him. Raidou kissed him with all the pain and loneliness of a man who had been waiting all alone for for the blizzard to lift and spring to come, and Genma's heart swelled as he felt Raidou smile against him, understanding that everything was finally, finally, all right.

"You know," he murmured against his neck, arms still around each other, "this doesn't really help my problem so much as exacerbate it."

"I love you… pervert."

* * *

It was later that day, after darkness had fallen, when the explanations finally began. The four survivors were all conscious, if exhausted, everyone but Asuma propped up against packs and the wall just to keep from collapsing. KYU was clustered around their loved ones, and the silence was heavy and awkward, everyone waiting for Asuma to begin talking.

Finally, the wind user cleared his throat and started up. "Well, I suppose I should begin with when we were first assigned the mission. Danzou- or, the Hokage- assigned us all the mission at the same time, giving us a day to prepare. Now, we all had been suspecting something was wrong with Tsunade-sama for sometime; this merely confirmed it. Later that night, we met up to discuss what we wanted to do…"

…

_They sat around a table at a bar, none drinking, all leaning sadly over their drinks for what was probably their last night in Konoha. Anybody who was watching would just see six depressed shinobi who looked like they were lining up for their execution. But, under the table, they were tapping out phrases in an old ANBU code with the slightest twitches of their fingers, frantically discussing their next course of action to save their lives._

_The two undercover ROOT operatives in the corner watched on, oblivious to their discussion. _

_'We've suspected that Danzou has taken Tsunade's place for sometime,' Kakashi tapped out on the edge of the table, half-gloved fingers hardly moving for all it was worth. 'This merely confirms it.'_

_'So what are we supposed to do? Without any proof, if we go against the Hokage and refuse orders, we could be killed,' Kurenai tapped, expression worried. She looked at Asuma, who grudgingly began to give a reply._

_'I say we try and get a message to someone. At this point, our duty is to help Konoha, not to stay alive. If we can get someone else to look into the Hokage, perhaps they'll be able to find wherever Orochimaru or whoever has her and do something to help the village.' _

_'But who do we get a message to? All my friends are ANBU, and they won't be of much help. Danzou's probably watching them the closest, after us.' _

_Everyone tapped out agreements with Tenzou, saying that, like him, their friends were mostly ANBU. It was silent for one long moment, then Gai's abrupt, loud, staccato rhythms, what he apparently thought passed as subtle, broke the spell._

_'What about the students? They are wise, and the epitome of youth! Surely, they will do what is best for the village! For youth!'_

_Kakashi glared at Gai as the man gestured and pumped his fist into the air, forgoing every single lesson in stealth he'd ever been taught. Genma kicked him under the table and looked like he wanted to spit his senbon out at him. _

_'Way to be subtle, moron,' the senbon sucker tapped, 'really, way to tell the whole fucking room we're having a conversation here.' _

_'Besides,' Tenzou began quickly, probably to stop Genma from actually killing Gai, 'only you four have students. Us two don't.' _

_'Surely you have someone important in your life, then!' Gai forged on, regardless of any impending danger, only stopped from gesturing wildly again by Kakashi's firm hand on his wrist. 'There must be a significant other who you could share this with!'_

_'Are you fucking out of your mind? Raidou's going to enough to deal with after I die. I'm not dragging him into some cockamamie scheme to-'_

_'You think our students are going to be fine and dandy after we die?' Asuma cut in. 'Surely, you remember how it felt when_ your_ jounin sensei died.'_

_Genma glared at him this time, clenching a fist so tight his knuckles turned white. Kurenai cleared her throat hesitantly before it came to blows, drawing both mens' attention to her. 'What Asuma is trying to say in his own blunt, insensitive way, is that our students are going to be hurt, too. And Raidou is just as capable, if not more so, than they are. In fact, our students could use a leader after we're gone, and he would be the perfect candidate.'_

_Genma rolled his eyes and took a sulky drink of his sake while the others gave tiny nods of agreement. He glanced at Tenzou out of the corner of his eye and, mostly to see his kohai squirm, he tapped, "What about you, Tenzo? Surely someone as dashing as you has got a lover boy to rope into this ridiculous conspiracy. Or a lover girl, your preference.' _

_The wood user blushed, the heat rising in his cheeks as he avoided eye contact. He coughed a little and hesitantly tapped out an answer. 'Yes… yes, I do…'_

_'Looking a bit hesitant there, Tenzou. Are you sure?'_

_"Now, Genma.' Kakashi nudged Tenzou lightly and took a drink so fast they could only tell by the fact that the amount of sake in his glass decreased. 'If my favorite kohai says he does, then he does. Don't pick on him.'_

_'You say that like you don't pick on him yourself.' _

_'Can we focus here? Not that we're about to die anything…' _

_Asuma's chilling comment stopped them from ragging on Tenzou, everyone focusing back on the task at hand. The wind user waited until all attention was firmly on him, then continued. 'First thing's first: how are we going to get the messages to our students and or lovers?' _

_'That's simple,' Kakashi tapped. 'Every shinobi gets a letter, delivered to the person of his choosing if they should die in the field. We can hide the messages in the letters. Preferably disguised as something only our students will be able to figure out, in case Danzou suspects and reads it.' _

_'Good idea. But that leaves six messages. We're going to need to choose wisely. What exactly do we want to say?'_

_Genma sighed heavily at Kurenai's silent question. He stared into the depths of his drink rather than at the others and began to slowly work out an answer. 'Our suspicions about Tsunade and Danzou's involvement. Where we think she disappeared.'_

_'Who they can trust,' Kakashi added, raising a finger. 'I doubt our students are going to seek out Raidou and whoever Tenzou is leaving his letter towards on his own. We should probably leave them with some sort of list telling them who all is involved.' _

_'Probably something that'll prompt them into realizing why Danzou's trying to kill us.' _

_'…I don't know about you guys, but I'd kind of like to not die. It'd be dangerous to return to Konoha, I know, but that doesn't mean we can't try to survive.' _

_'I don't think anyone here can disagree with that,' Asuma began slowly, 'but this is meant to be a suicide mission. Genma, you can't possibly believe us six can take out the whole of the Akatsuki and live.'_

_The special jounin shrugged. 'Of course not. But when the fight gets to be too much for us- hopefully, not in the very fucking beginning- we can retreat. Hide out in Mountain Country until it's safe. …We could leave the guys something leading them to our location.'_

_Kurenai bit her lip. 'I suppose we could do that… but, Genma, the Akatsuki aren't someone to play around with. …They might not give us the option to retreat.'_

_At this, Kakashi shrugged morosely and leaned back in his chair. 'If that's the case, then so be it. Most of us here have outlived a shinobi's life expectancy by reaching thirty. Left behind legacies and all that-_

_'Not all of us have suicidal tendencies like you, Kakashi. Some of us would_ like_ to live past thirty.' _

_Kakashi sent a one-eyed glare at Genma. Kurenai quickly intervened, stopping yet another potential fight. 'So, so, it's decided, then. We need to tell them our suspicions about Tsunade, where she was when she disappeared, who they can trust, and that we're at least going to try to survive. Anything else?'_

_Tenzou cleared his throat uncomfortably. 'Ah, actually… assuming they involve Sai, that is… he'll probably know a lot about what Danzou is planning. He won't be able to talk about it, because of Danzou's seal, but I know the Hokage has been experimenting to find a compound that could neutralize the seal. She hit a breakthrough about three months ago… about a months before we think she disappeared. I could probably get a hold of the formula.'_

_'Do that, then,' Kakashi tapped. '…I suppose that this is it, then.' _

_The six shinobi gazed tensely around at each other, none of them wanting to stand up and leave but knowing it had to be done. A short, hasty discussion followed of who was going to say what to the students, but when it was finished, there was no longer anything keeping them there. It was Kakashi who slowly raised his head and murmured aloud, "…I don't know about you guys, but I have someone to say goodbye to. I'd like to be with him instead of this depressing, silent bunch. See you tomorrow."_

_The five all looked to him silently before nodding. With that, they parted ways. _

"So _that's_ what you meant, Yamato-taichou?"

The tired wood user looked at Sakura in confusion, eyebrows raised in a question. The medic shrugged helplessly. "We figured out from your letter that it was Danzou behind everything… we never did realize what the formula was for."

Tenzou smiled weakly and patted her arm in an attempt to be comforting. "It's okay, Sakura. You guys still figured out what was important."

Sai cleared his throat, drawing attention to him. "If it matters, there is not much I can tell you that I haven't managed to already. And none of it is particularly important to what we're doing."

"That's good, then."

Asuma took a small drink of water, then continued. "Well, I'll skim over what happened next. Mostly eventful. Moving onto when we reach the Akatsuki. They were in the middle of sealing a Bijuu, so were spread apart in teams of two and were exhausted; great news for us. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to reach them until _after_ the Bijuu had been sealed, and no, we don't know which one it was. But, anyway, onto the battle…"


	16. Chapter 16

Thank you all for reviewing! …Technically, this should be entirely from Asuma's POV. But I can't help it. I haven't written Kakashi in 60,000 words, give me a break.

* * *

Kakashi lifted a closed fist when the two Akatsuki raised their heads, both letting out loud groans of exhaustion. The one that was slim and gripped a scythe stood and popped his neck, then gave a loud moan. "Awww, man. That hits the spot."

"That's because you're a masochist. And sit back down. We haven't been dismissed yet."

The man whirled on his partner and glared, hefting his weapon. "Oi, Kakuzu! Fuck off!"

"Was that supposed to be a threat? Because you're waving your weapon like it was, but you didn't say anything remotely threatening."

"Why you-"

Kakashi groaned silently. "Let's move before this gets any worse and they kill each other," he whispered. "Gai, Asuma, and I will take the talkative one with the scythe. Kurenai, Genma, and Tenzou will take the big one. On my signal-"

"I'm going to motherfucking kill you and sacrifice you for Jashin!"

"Try it."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, then cocked his headband above his Sharingan and sighed. "No time like the present. Go!"

The team split in half and descended on the two Akatsuki members in a flurry of action. Gai blasted down in his trademark dynamic entry, Kakashi let down a storm of kunai and shuriken, and Asuma's sharp Chakra blades sliced straight for the so-called masochist's arm. Meanwhile, Kurenai copied Kakashi's strategy with weapons with the other Akatsuki member, Genma spat a poisoned senbon directly for his neck, and Tenzou was already trying to restrain him with wood.

The two Akatsuki members reacted so fast they were blurs to the naked eye. The one with the scythe sidestepped and deflected Kakashi's assault like it was child's play, Gai's kick only caused him to stagger to the side and yell out in anger, and Asuma's blow was knocked aside by a powerful punch. Kaukuzu was just as successful at surviving and, without even a second's hesitation, began to fight back.

"Awwww, come the fuck on!" the masochist cried, jumped further back into the cave to avoid becoming a pincushion. "I wanted to take a little nap! Where the fuck are you guys coming from?!"

"Shut up, Hidan," Kakuzu growled. "Leader-sama! We're being attacked by a group from Konoha! …Understood. You moron's are going to regret this. Ha… That one's head is worth enough money to have us set for life," he hissed, pointing at Kakashi, then gestured at the others. "And I recognize these others from the bingo book. Dangerous characters, but their heads are worth a lot."

"I don't know where the hell you're getting off, Kakuzu!" Hidan screamed, even as he ducked under another one of Gai's kicks. "These aren't going towards money!"

"I have had it up to here with your ridiculous sacrifices-"

"You're going to burn in hell some day, asshat, and all your precious money won't be worth nothing there! You try buying Jashin off to get out of hell, I tell you, it won't wor-"

"_Why don't you try shutting up and fighting?!_"

"Please," Kakashi muttered, sidestepping a wicked slash from Hidan's scythe. "You two are both insufferable."

Hidan's eyes went wide with fury, and then he jumped for the Copy Ninja, swinging his weapon out in a huge slash. "You fucking bastard! I'll sacrifice you first!"

"Excuse me for not jumping for joy."

Hidan swore loudly again before moving straight for the Copy Ninja. Gai's foot collided with his head with enough force to smash through a rock wall and, instead of collapsing, or at least passing out, the Akatsuki member screamed out another curse and twisted, trying to cut him with his deadly weapon. "_Why you- will you stop that?! _It's clearly not working and it's giving me a dammed headache, let me tell you!"

"Gai," Kakashi called out, "physical attacks aren't working. Formation C!"

Gai nodded and then, together, the two began their assault. _"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!"_

Asuma threw himself back as the duo launched into their attack, the Blue Beast of Konoha assaulting Hidan with a single orb of spiraling flames and Kakashi joining in, breathing out a continuous stream of fire to overtake the Aktasuki member. The barrage of flames swirled over and Asuma added his own gale to the mix, and the fire flared up to consume almost half the cave, trapping Hidan within its depths.

Tenzou withdrew his tendrils of wood from the blaze just in time before being kicked solid in the chest solidly by Kakuzu. The blow was so strong he was thrown back over ten feet to smash into the cave wall with a sickening crack. "_Tenzou!_" Kurenai screamed, turning to help him just as something grey and slimy grabbed her around the throat.

Genma's eyes widened when he saw thick, sickening threads moving out from Kakuzu's elbow joint to wrap tightly around the genjutsu user's throat. The inhuman creature brought Kurenai to slam against the wall as well before approaching Tenzou, ducking as the dazed wood user tried to incapacitate him with a spear of wood. "Hmm… earth, water, and wood… I love it. Your heart could replace one of mine. Fantastic."

Tenzou's almond shaped eyes widened when the strange tentacles reached out to attach themselves to his chest and he started to struggle at the terrifying suction feeling-

And then the chords were severed by a blur of bronze, and Kakuzu turned on Genma in anger, eyes narrowing. "You're going to regret that, pretty boy."

Across the cave, the fiery inferno died out just as quickly as it had come, Asuma now using wind to smother the attack instead of bolster it. Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma all stood back warily, weapons raised, ready to pounce as the smoke cleared-

To reveal Hidan... alive... fully conscious... his skin as red as a lobster's... and hitting a smoking patch on his robe, eyes wide in fury. _"You fucking bastards!" _he screamed, stomping his foot, almost like he was having a temper tantrum. "This was my favorite cloak! Sons of bitches! _I am going to fucking kill you!"_

Asuma stared in a cold mix of disbelief and terror. They had just literally cooked the man alive, and he didn't even seem to be in pain. By all right, he should be _dead._

What on earth was he?

Hidan let out a furious scream of rage and twisted in a wide path of destruction, bringing the scythe with him. Gai jumped back and Kakashi saw it coming with his Sharingan, but Asuma was just a split second too slow, and the blow caught him in the shoulder.

Asuma crumpled for a moment, grasping at his arm with a cry of agony. The blow had cut through skin and muscle, so deep it nearly reached the bone, and Hidan let out a cackle of victory before raising his blood-soaked weapon to his mouth.

Ignoring him entirely, Kakashi dashed out to grab Asuma by the collar and pull him back, get him out of danger. He yanked the wind user to safety while Gai covered for his teammates, watching as their enemy licked the blood off his weapon before giving a scream of pleasure. Gai stared in horror, watching as his pale skin suddenly twisted into demonic black and white patterns and he cackled happily again. Gai had no idea whatsoever what was happening, but he knew it wasn't good; he shouted out a warning. "_Kakashi! Asuma! Get back!"_

"Too late!" Hidan cried, turning in a large circle and dragging his foot, tracing a strange pattern on the rocky ground in Asuma's blood, taking his time doing so. And then, with a darkly sinister smile, Hidan slipped back into place inside the scarlet circle. He said his next words with all the confidence of a man who had just won his fight, smiling all the while. "_Jujutsu: Shiji Hyouketsu!"_

"We don't have time for your ritual, you idiot!" Kakuzu yelled from across the room. "You think we can take it easy on them?!"

"_Shut up, Kakuzu!"_

Kakashi shut his normal eye so he could focus on the man solely with his Sharingan, tracking his Chakra with his eye to see what the technique was doing. But despite the strange changes to his body and the worrisome pattern he was drawing on the ground, he saw nothing. He didn't seem to be doing at all or preparing to use any kind of technique- and Kakashi knew that whatever was going to happen was not good. "Asuma, Gai!" he yelled, moving backwards. "I don't know what he's doing, but it's bad! Back up!"

Hidan just laughed again, a slightly maniac sound, and gestured at them with his weapon. "What? Are you scared of me? Are you poor mortals _scared_ of Jashin's disciple?!"

"You made the wrong decision when you accused the Blue Beast of Konoha of fear!"

"Gai, no-"

"-fear is not youthful! Now you will see why Konoha is to be feared! _Konoha Senpu!_"

"_Gai_-"

Kakashi's Sharingan widened in shock, tracking Gai's movements almost in slow motion as his friend raced forward to slam his foot into their enemy's head. Hidan made absolutely no attempt to dodge; in fact, he even seemed thrilled at the prospect of being hit. Before Kakashi could warn him again, Gai's foot had collided with his hand and then Kakashi was examining his rival, searching him for any sign of curse of jutsu or injury-

A pained grunt from his left drew his attention and he spun to see Asuma on his knees, clutching his suddenly bleeding head and moaning. Kakashi stared around in shock; who had hit him?! Kakuzu was still wrapped up in fighting the others and Hidan hadn't moved at all, hadn't moved in the slightest-

Asuma abruptly fell onto his back, now clutching his ribcage, and Kakashi had been watching this time- _no one had touched him. _What on earth was going on? He glanced back to Gai in alarm to find that he had just kicked Hidan in the chest. The Akatsuki member spread his arms and howled in pleasure, torn and still smoking robe exposing his inhuman skin. There wasn't a single bruise or mark from the entire fight.

Kakashi stared for another moment, and then it clicked.

"_Gai!_" Kakashi screamed when his rival moved back to attack him again. "_Gai, stop!_ You're not hurting him; you're hurting Asuma!"

Gai skidded to a stop and twisted, eyes wide in disbelief before he caught sight of his teammate on the cave floor, gasping for breath, his head bleeding and his hand resting on his ribcage as if in great pain. "Wha-" he sputtered, scampering back like a startled deer. "H-how-"

"I don't know, but back up! _Back up!_"

Hidan pouted a bit. "Awww. Does the big green monster not want to play? I'll sacrifice you next, you fucker! But let's have some fun first, shall we?"

"_Hidan, speed it up!_"

"_Shut the fuck up, you money-obsessed heart-collecting freak!"_

Asuma let out a pained breath as he climbed to his feet, still clutching at his wounded arm, as Hidan turned back to face them and twirled his scythe as if to cut himself. Kakashi's eye narrowed, and he reached out to grasp at Asuma's shoulder, already suspecting what was about to happen-

And then Hidan's weapon dived into his own black and white flesh, moving deep into his own thigh.

Asuma let out an ear-splitting scream and his shoulder vanished from underneath Kakashi's hand as he fell, blood spurting out from the exact same spot on his own leg where Hidan had wounded himself. Kurenai twisted at Asuma's voice and her scarlet eyes widened in terror. "_Asuma!_"

"Kurenai, stay back! We've got this!" Kakashi yelled, moving to jump in front of the man protectively even though it would do absolutely no good at all. _Think, _he thought desperately, _come on, think, there has to be something this eye can see that'll help me understand this. Every jutsu has a weakness, I just need to find this one's._

"Let's take this slow, shall we? Where shall I cut next? Ohhhhh, this feels _so damn good!_"

Kakashi struggled to keep his head and focus as Hidan slowly lowered his weapon to trace a long cut down his chest again and Asuma cried out through clenched teeth. He couldn't let Asuma's suffering move him. He had to focus.

His Sharingan flicked down to concentrate on the bloody seal Hidan had drawn in the ground to notice that the man was still standing squarely within the shape. It was the same shape as the silver pendant on his necklace, he noted, and his eye focused in on the thin, almost nonexistent veins of Chakra moving through the seal. Like any normal seal, there was Chakra in it- that, in and of itself was unhelpful.

_Think, think, think. You can do something about the seal. What is different about this seal than a normal one? What is different about it? _

1. It was drawn in blood.

2. Instead of being drawn on skin, it was drawn on the ground.

3. It was exceedingly simple, for a seal, and he did not recognize the symbol.

He couldn't do a damn thing with the third bit of information, nor could he exactly do anything about the first, but the second…

Seals, he vaguely remembered, could, in a pinch, be drawn with the victim's blood on just the ground, not the skin. They were actually more proficient than any regular seal but only used in an absolute emergency because of the greater time, effort, and precision required when drawing such a large seal. Using blood actually made the seal stronger as well, as it would react more readily with the target, but it was still only used in critical situations. It was avoided otherwise as the seal could also be easily neutralized because, if the victim was moved from within the confines of the seal by even an inch, the effects would be rendered worthless.

Kakashi's eye widened. _That was it! _

"Asuma," he ordered, "be ready to move when you see an opportunity. Gai, follow my lead."

"_You fuckers are going to be sacrifices to Jashin!_"

"Gai, get ready- as much strength as you can spare!"

Gai followed his orders without question. An intimidating blue aura blasted into existence over his skin as he opened the fourth gate, and then Kakashi opened both eyes and brought his hands together in an earth seal. "_Douton: Jishin no jutsu!_" He struggled to keep the technique from spreading any further and hold it firmly within the bloody seal as he made the cave floor tremble.

Hidan just laughed loudly. "What is this, Copy Cat? What the hell is this supposed to be?!"

"Gai! Dynamic Entry, from the northeast, now!"

Gai didn't hesitate and simply complied, jumping up into the air to kick just as Kakashi began to tilt the ground in the direction of his kick. Hidan was anchoring his position like Chakra like any shinobi would, but the combined effects of gravity, the shaky ground, and Gai's blow… would it be enough?

Gai collided with the man in a cloud of dust and Asuma groaned again, and Kakashi didn't give himself time to think. He just sprinted forward to add his own strength to the maneuver and threw himself at where knew Hidan would be, fighting to push the creature, whatever he was, out of the seal.

If he could compare this seal to blood-drawn ones in the field in every respect, then all he had to do was toe Hidan out of the seal by even an inch and the effects would be neutralized.

He gave a Chakra-enhanced push at the exact same time as Gai and felt the resistance abruptly give way under their hands and Kakashi threw himself forward with his rival, both smothering themselves on top of their opponent. Kakahsi felt a weapon pierce his chest and swore, even as he yelled, "Asuma! Now!"

He heard the wind user approach, trusting him to have stopped the curse, whatever it was, and then the man was bringing a glowing Chakra blade down on Hidan's arm in a mighty stroke.

There was a spray of blood, a cry of pleasure- and Asuma succeeding in cutting his arm off.

Asuma continued his work without stopping, slicing through Hidan's throat with such force he created a dent in the cave floor beneath them. Scarlet blood splashed up, splattering them all, and Hidan howled in fury and began throwing his body about with even more strength, trying to escape.

_Just what the hell is he?_

As blunt as ever, Asuma hacked off his other limbs one by one, then grabbed one and tossed it as far as he could. Following his lead, Kakashi and Gai began throwing them in different directions all that was left was a wiggling arm, which Gai tossed into the corner before they all raced to join the fight against Kakuzu.

Genma glanced up at their approach and sighed in relief, sinking a bit further into his crouch and shifting the senbon in his mouth. "Long story short, bustard's after Tenzou. Something about wanting his heart and him being a wood user; I don't even fucking know."

Kakashi glanced worriedly at his kohai but he seemed fine; fighting the Akatsuki member with everything he had and he didn't appear to be injured badly at all. Neither did Kurenai or Genma and, his assessment of his teammates complete, he turned to face their new enemy.

Just what on earth had happened in their short battle with Hidan?

Three of the white masks he had seen on Kakuzu's torso earlier were now hovering in the air as heads for inky black demons, and Tenzou and Kurenai were focusing their fighting efforts on them. One was breathing out fire like a person while another was trying to drown Kurenai in a deluge of water. Kakashi sent a questioning look at Genma, but the man shook his head helplessly before running for the mask trying to kill the genjutsu user.

Together, Kakashi and Gai ran to aid Tenzou while Asuma hurried to Kurenai's side. Kakuzu didn't make any comment at their presence; he hardly even seemed to care that his immortal teammate had been incapacitated. True to Genma's word, he ignored Kurenai entirely and focused on Tenzou, blowing reckless streams of fire at Kakashi and Gai to try and force them back.

"_Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!_" Kakashi brought a watery dragon up to smash into the fire, turning it into a cloud of steam. In the confusion, Kakashi brought his hands together in another seal before visibility had returned and then the fight continued with as much brutality as before.

Kakuzu tried to go after Tenzou once more but when Kakashi protected him again, the Akatsuki member focused on him instead. "I see, Copy Ninja, that I'll have to kill you first."

"I'm honored."

Kakuzu glared and went after the Copy Ninja with a vengeance. Gai and Tenzou did their best to hold him back, and, meanwhile, his two masks were going after Genma and Kurenai with such strength they were hard pressed to stay alive.

Kakuzu's patience was clearly being tested. When Gai deflected a blow from hitting Kakashi, the Akatsuki member lashed out with his inhuman tentacles and pinned the taijutsu user to the ground, snapping around his limbs and his torso to render him immobile. Kakashi dodged a similar attempt to restrain him and whisked out a kunai to cut him free, oblivious to Kakuzu's hands coming together in a seal-

Tenzou's attempt to stop the Akatsuki member failed, and he found himself watching as his senpai and Gai were buried in a landslide.

"_Senpai!_" he screamed, freezing for just a split second.

That second was enough.

Tenzou found himself abruptly pinned to the ground, the tentacles wrapping around and holding him fast just as they had before, and then they latched onto his chest, wriggling over his heart. Tenzou struggled to free himself but he couldn't; even trying to force Kakuzu back with a wooden block did no good, the man blocked the weak attempt with more tentacles.

Just what the hell was this thing, anyway?

Just when Tenzou felt his heart physically burn in agony, the ground in front of him exploded.

Kakashi shot up from below the earth, left fist smashing into Kakuzu's chin while his right pulled back in a Raikiri.

Of course. The Kakashi that had been crushed in the landslide had been a shadow clone. (Tenzou really hated how often Kakashi faked his death with shadow clones).

Tenzou stared in shock and relief so intense it hurt to breathe- or maybe that had something to do with the inhuman tentacles still gripping his heart- as the lightening crackled dangerously on his senpai's hand, which was firmly lodged in Kakuzu's chest. The Akatsuki member hung off his fist, limp and dead, staring blankly-

And then there was a smash from the other side of the cave, and three things happened at once.

The first was that Gai escaped from his rocky prison, in a whirl of fire and Chakra, signaling he had opened the sixth gate. The second was that the strange, masked beings fighting Kurenai and Genma continued to battle, regardless of the jutsu caster being dead.

The third was that Kakuzu reached out to slam Kakashi back against the cave wall, his hand wrapped around his throat.

Tenzou stared in open-mouthed surprise. He had just _watched _Kakashi jam a Raikiri straight into Kakuzu's heart. No one could survive such a blow- _no one._.

It didn't even seem to have affected Kakuzu.

"You bastard," Kakuzu snarled, tightening his grip around the struggling Copy Ninja's throat. "You just killed one my hearts. You. Fucking. Bastard."

Tenzou suddenly remembered he was a ninja and not a little boy, and he sent a shard of wood hurtling into Kakuzu at such speed the Akatsuki member was thrown back over ten feet. Kakashi slid down to land lightly on his feet and helped him up, Sharingan eye narrow in concentration. "Senpai, what happened?!" he asked breathlessly as Kakuzu climbed to his feet. "Did you miss?"

Kakashi shook his head slowly, never taking his eyes off Kakuzu. "No, I distinctly felt his heart. What is going on?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi saw Genma shatter one of the masks in an powerful kick. The darkness streaming from the little thing vanished instantly and the shards of the white plastic fell to the cave floor harmlessly. Kakuzu let out a cry of rage and Genma and Kurenai weren't given a moment's rest as they turned to the other mask, which was still fighting them with all the skill and intensity of a special jounin.

"Tenzou, how's your chest? Can you fight?"

Tenzou glanced down to see a ring of red surrounding his heart, but there was very little blood and not much pain, so he nodded bravely and Kakashi sighed. "Good. Asuma, Gai! Come on! Hold Kakuzu back while they destroy the other one!"

They proceeded to run forward to try and do just that, but Kakuzu let out an unearthly howl and yet another mask split from his chest, black streaming out like blood from a wound as the creature flew towards Kakashi and the others. "Shit," Kakashi muttered under his breath, drawing out a kunai to prepare to fight.

They jumped into battle without hesitation, but Tenzou kept glancing from the mask they were fighting- which did so with earth techniques- to the mask Kurenai and Genma were fighting- which used solely fire techniques. He couldn't help but remember how excited, for lack of a better word, Kakuzu had been when he'd realized he was a wood jutsu user and how he claimed to be going to be taking his 'heart'…

It hit him like a bolt of lightening.

"_Hey!_" he yelled, ducking under a blast of fire and blocking another with water. "Everyone! Everyone! I get it! This guy has five lives! He said he has five hearts, we just have to kill him five times! And the masks are the hearts!"

"Why you little-"

"Kakashi-senpai already killed him once and Genma got one of the masks, so-"

Kakashi threw himself into Tenzou to stop Kakuzu from silencing him with one of his writhing tentacles just before the Akatsuki member suddenly collapsed to his knees, eyes glassy and mouth hanging open. His Sharingan saw that he was in a genjutsu and it took only a cursory glance to Kurenai to see that she was the one casting it.

Kakuzu's incapacitation did nothing to stop the masks, though. They continued their assault on the team from Konoha but, without Kakuzu active to cause trouble, they made quick work of the two masks. Kurenai had fallen to her knees herself, all of her concentration going to keeping Kakuzu in the illusion, but even without her help it was only about two minutes before the two masks fell to the cave floor as harmless shards of white.

"Good," Asuma panted, turning to support Kurenai's limp form as they all faced Kakuzu. "If Tenzou's right, we only have to kill him one more time. Between the five of us, it-"

Kakuzu suddenly let out a yell, pale eyes opening wide and Kurenai stumbled back against the wind user's shoulder, now gasping for breath, expression torn. Asuma grimaced.

"…shouldn't be a problem."

Kakuzu glanced around to see the remains of his other hearts, then swore loudly and turned to glare at his attackers. "Do you know how long I spent collecting those hearts?" he growled. "Ah… it's only fitting It take you as replacements. Wind, lightening, and that little gem of a specimen." He gestured at Tenzou and grinned. "That makes four. Hmm… I could always take that one." He jabbed his finger at Kurenai "Never tried a heart that uses genjutsu."

"That's a lot of talk for a guy who's just got his ass handed to him," Genma snarled. The team from Konoha and the Akatsuki member remained a standoff for a moment before they were at it again.

Kakuzu didn't bother having any masks fight for him this time; he went about battling himself, but against six of the strongest in Konoha, even he and his inhuman tentacles could not hold out for long.

When the Akatsuki member fell to the ground after being pierced through the chest by a wind jutsu, one that had sliced directly through the center of the last of the masks sown into his skin, they were not even given a moment's rest. The voices didn't sound until the heavy body had hit the cave floor, but not one of the six had even stopped panting before their new enemies had arrived.

"Master Sasori, my man, it seems we are too late, hmm."

"You were the one who made me wait, Deidara."

* * *

Jutsu:

Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu - Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

Jujutsu: Shiji Hyoketsu - Curse Technique

Douton: Jishin no jutsu- Earth Release: Earthquake Technique

Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu- Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique


	17. Chapter 17

Thank you for the review! So... here's the thing- I actually adore Sasori (and Deidara, while we're at it). I assumed he was alive because I'd already written out battle plans before I knew when I wanted this to take place, and I couldn't see my Team Konoha losing or even drawing with just Deidara. I'd already planned everything out before I decided to make this take place after the Rescue the Kazekage arc. So, that's why Sasori's death scene (shocking, he dies again, whatever) is a bit... lacking. I couldn't picture him wanting to stay alive after his death scene in the manga/anime, with his parents and everything... I almost felt bad about bringing him back. But if Kabuto can do it, then so can I. And his return is just as short-lived here as it was in the manga. Enjoy!

_"Master Sasori, my man, it seems we are too late, hmm."_

_"You were the one who made me wait, Deidara."_

Team Konoha all stared in disbelief at the newcomers. One was a blond man with a ponytail and hungry mouths on his hands, ravenous tongues emerging from pale teeth to lick at his own flesh. He gazed at his opponents from one inquisitive blue eye, the other one obscured by some strange sort of mechanical contraption that looked like a targeting device. The other was a slim redhead with a pale, expressionless face and cold, red-brown eyes that didn't seem very curious or even involved.

This was definitely a problem, because Kakashi and Gai had both watched Deidara kill himself in an explosion so massive it had nearly killed Kakashi to suck it into his kamui.

The man of the hour himself sighed loudly, observing his opponents unhappily. "Well, we didn't know _these_ people were who were attacking. The Copy Ninja… you have no idea the amount of trouble he gave me last time, hmm."

Sasori didn't look at his partner and instead, leveled their enemies with a deadened stare. "If I recall correctly, you were running away and he still managed to make you go with your last resort."

"At least I wasn't taken down by some chick and an old hag, hmm!"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Pardon me for interrupting, but care to explain why you _aren't_ dead- and just where you got your arms back from?"

Deidara glanced at Kakashi and rolled his visible eye, spitting on the cave floor. "That dead fool, Kakuzu, sowed them back on for me. And that bomb was a clay clone." He said the last two words in a bit of a taunting, sing song voice and smiled cheerfully. "Don't think you'll be sucking anything of mine up into your eye this time, you freak."

"Gai, Kakashi, who the hell is that?" Genma muttered, flicking his senbon at Sasori. "Blondie called him Sasori, but didn't he look like a decrepit old man?"

Sasori frowned while Deidara thumped his partner on the back with an eye roll. "He decided to go puppet-less- claims it's for convenience, but I'm positive it's for the ladies, hmm. But, then again, the chick and the old hag broke his shell beyond repair, and he's spent his whole time fixing the-"

"Go ahead and spell out everything I have to the enemy, why don't you."

Deidara glared. "See, this is what I'm talking about! Your _art_, your so-called 'eternal beauty'- it's predictable! It doesn't change! If they've fought you once, they know everything you've got! _True_ art is changing, true art is new- true art is a blast! _Ka_-"

"Finish that sentence, and they won't be the only ones breathing around a poisoned sword."

Deidara glowered and fingered something in a pouch by his side, seeming a hair's breath away from pulling out a bomb. "Master Sasori, my man, when we're done here, I am going to blast all your puppets to hell, hmm."

"My art will kill you before you even make a move."

Deidara actually stomped in his foot in frustration and whirled on his partner. "Why you- that's it! Can we leave Team Konoha for the others? Leader-sama's not that far out; he'll take care of them! You and me, _right now,_ hmm!"

Sasori regarded him coolly, and his pale fingers twitched, revealing the glowing blue Chakra strands that trailed from the tips. "As much as the idea of fighting a man who explodes disinterests me, I'd rather not keep Leader-sama waiting. And why do you say 'hmm' at the end of every sentence? It's rather redundant."

"You… _stop quoting Tobi! _You saw me try to kill him after he asked me that; what, do you just _like_ to annoy me?!"

Team Konoha watched, aghast, as the Akatsuki duo descend further into their argument. Finally, Kurenai cleared her throat and leaned against Asuma, murmuring into his ear, "…Is there a reason we're not attacking?"

"…No."

And, with that, Team Konoha attacked.

"Kurenai, Tenzou, Genma- go for Sasori! Be careful! He's a puppet user!" Kakashi commanded, even as he turned to fight Deidara. "The rest, with me, against Deidara! He's a long range fighter type who uses explosives!"

Sasori scowled, lightly sidestepping the barrage of weapons and jutsu as he looked his opponents over. "Honestly," he muttered, shaking his head. "I just repaired my puppets and now I'm going to have to fix them again."

"The puppets aren't the only thing that'll need repairing once we're through with you, you fucker," Genma snarled, shifting so he was in the front of the formation. "Kurenai, Tenzou, ever fight a puppet user before?"

Kurenai shook her head tensely, focusing solely on Sasori as the man summoned out a demented appearing puppet with just a twitch of his fingers. Tenzou, meanwhile, chuckled nervously and brought his hands together in a seal that Genma recognized as one for Mokuton. "Ah, does a genin one count?"

"No, it doesn't. Listen, your abilities aren't suited for this type of fight. Back me up, okay?

"Kurenai!" Kakashi yelled out from where he was battling Deidara. "Genjutsu won't work on him! His body's not human, there's no Chakra system- you won't be able to use genjutsu!"

"Well, fuck," Genma muttered, eying his enemy with new worry. "Then how the hell are we supposed to kill him? Why aren't any of these bastard's human?"

"Go for the core in the-"

The rest of Kakashi's words were drowned out in an explosion, along with part of the cave roof collapsing in on top of them, and Genma decided to go with the fight and screw trying to get tips from Kakashi. Kurenai was a fire user as well, even if she wasn't particularly renowned for her abilities; that was rather nice for fighting a man with primarily wooden weapons.

"You two, provide back up! Stay on your toes; puppet users like to poison everything! I'm probably immune, but you two-"

"Don't be arrogant, Genma!" Kurenai snapped, ducking under a flying sword from the puppet. "He's Akatsuki! Don't assume you're immune; you'll get yourself killed!"

Genma frowned even as he fingered a number of senbon from his weapon's pouch, carefully avoiding a blade that was practically dripping with purple, likely virulent poison. Of course Kurenai was right; she always was.

"All right, I'm going in! Cover me!"

Genma threw himself forward into the whirling storm of poisoned blades and mechanical weapons- how the fuck was all this possible from just one man?- and found himself hard pressed to just avoid being hit. Tenzou blocked blow after blow with shields that appeared so fast he almost jumped and multiple attempted attacks were thrown into disarray from scorching temperatures and smoke, courtesy of Kurenai.

Sasori went after him with a vengeance, putting at least four puppets on his tail, and Genma found himself sucking in his chest to avoid poisoned attacks by a hair's breath. "Shit," he muttered, eye's widening when one came so close it tore both vest and shirt. _I can't keep this up much longer!_

Just when Genma was absolutely positive he was going to die, he reached Sasori. In that same moment, there was a clatter of wood and metal, and then the puppet user was twisting to face him, bringing gently swaying Chakra threads with him.

Genma grinned triumphantly when the puppets did not follow, and then spat his senbon directly into the puppet user's throat.

Sasori's eyes widened, and he turned minutely to see his creations all collapsed dumbly on the ground. He tried to move them again, then gasped. "When did you…?!"

"Senbon are perfect for severing Charka threads, you know. Small enough that they don't push the threads aside, sharp enough that they cut through and aren't deflected. And poisoned senbon are even better."

Sasori stared for a split second before thick bonds of wood collided with him, restraining his arms and legs as he was thrown back to the ground so hard his head cracked against the cave floor. Tenzou and Kurenai sprinted to join his side, and the cold enemy just watched them, seeming almost bored. "What?" he asked, rolling his hands about as much as the bounds allowed him to. "Is that all?"

Tenzou smiled. "Good work, Genma."

Genma opened his mouth to reply, then froze.

Sasori's pale hands extended from his arms, revealing metal and wood beneath flesh- almost like…

_A puppet?!_

Not at all keen to see what the man was planning, Kurenai and Tenzou both leaped forward to restrain him, only to be held back by Genma. "Wait!" he gasped, pointing to the creaking metal, at sharpened edges dripping with poison. "They're poisoned, too!"

Tenzou narrowed his eyes and stopped Sasori's movements with a shot of wood, but Sasori only sighed.

"Making this difficult, are we?"

"You're the one making things difficult," Genma snapped, then pointed at the senbon still buried in his flesh. "You'll be dead in minutes. Can't you just relax until then?"

Sasori raised his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, is that supposed to be poisoned? I honestly didn't notice."

Then Kurenai kicked Genma in the ribs.

The senbon sucker was sent sprawling to the cave floor, eyes wide in shock. He threw himself onto his back and scampered away, raising his fists by sheer instinct as he stared at his former teammate. "Kurenai, what the fuck?!" he yelled, glowering when the woman's eyes widened in fear and she started to struggle against invisible bonds.

"I- I don't- I didn't mean to-" Kurenai's frantic mutterings when her arm abruptly raised, seeming against her will, to hurl a kunai at Tenzou. The man barely dodged in time and jumped back, dark eyes wide.

"I love myself a human doll, don't you?" Sasori deadpanned, and that was when Genma saw it.

Faintly moving, nearly invisible threads attached to Kurenai's arms, legs, and torso.

He followed the threads with his vision, feeling his breath grow short as he traced them back to… _Sasori's chest?_

"He's got Kurenai with Chakra threads!" he yelled, jumping back as Kurenai jerked to attack them again. "Tenzou, stay back!"

The wood user obediently moved away to stand beside Genma, a kunai clenched tightly as the genjutsu user jerkily advanced on them, clearing fighting every step of the way. "What are we supposed to do?!" he cried, ducking another projectile. "We can't hurt her!"

"We'll have to cut the Chakra threads, like before," he explained tersely, already feeling for his rapidly depleting number of senbon. "Try to restrain her."

This proved to be a somewhat simple task, because Kurenai was a human being; she did not have detachable joints and her body was not stuffed full of poisoned weaponry. Sasori managed to evade capture for only half a minute or so before the genjutsu user was finally slammed back to the floor, and Genma immediately severed the tenuous threads tying her to the puppet master.

"You okay?" Tenzou asked, helping her to her feet, and the woman nodded wearily and wiped a bead of sweat off her brow.

"You guys good?"

Tenzou nodded, but Genma wasn't paying attention. He was too busy staring, horrified, over Kurenai's shoulder. The woman followed his line of vision in confusion, then froze.

Sasori had managed to free himself, and that was certainly not all he had done.

Circling in a loose, huge circle around his head were _dozens_ of clacking, hissing puppets. _Dozens_ of them. They all flew about in a hideous army with poisoned weapons out and disjointed figures twisting and turning, revealing demonic weapons that Genma didn't even _want_ to think about as their master, such a slim and innocuous seeming figure, chuckled from below.

"Did you ever hear the story of how Fog Country was conquered in a day by a single man?" he asked curiously, voice somehow light and casual despite the terrible army circling his figure. "The truth is, it was conquered by one man and his one hundred puppets. These are those one hundred puppets… and I am that man. _Akahigi: Hyakki no Shouen._"

Genma said two words when faced by an army of one hundred deadly creatures all too capable of killing them all with a single scratch, controlled by a man who seemed all too eager to see them die. These two words accurately described their situation in that there was no hope, they were going to die, and all they could properly do was sit there and watch it happen.

"We're fucked."

And just as the army began to swoop down towards the three paralyzed shinobi, the very air began to shake and there was a sickening, deafening sound of suction.

Genma tensed, tightening his grip on his weapon, expecting another attack. But the puppets had frozen at the sound and their controller had turned to stare up at them, pale face now bloodless and cold eyes going wide.

The sound grew louder and Genma found himself watching as the world itself seemed to twist. A small, infinitely deep chasm shifted into his line of vision, the disorientation seeming emanate from it, pulling the world deeper and deeper into the darkness like it was gravity for a planet, and Genma watched in amazement as the puppets began to get sucked into the horrible thing from hell. Sasori yanked back on his puppets in alarm but this did absolutely nothing to stop the vortex from taking them in; in fact, it seemed to consume them at only a faster rate.

The huge army was entirely eaten up by the black _thing_, and then the twisted edges of the world shifted down to Sasori, as if it would try to do the same to him, too, before it faltered. It shifted slightly before rapidly spiraling into nothing, leaving only a gentle ripple effect shuddering through the air that made Genma shudder as he felt his insides twist when it reached him, like the horrifying vortex had been nothing but a small rock dropping into a dimensional pond.

It was dead silent.

Then, Genma could vaguely hear the sound of someone gasping, and then crumpling to the cave floor. The sound slowly made him tear his shocked gaze away from the now empty air and look after the sound to see Kakashi on his knees, head low, shoulders shuddering as he wheezed. Gai's hand was on the back of his neck and his eyes were narrow in concern, but Kakashi didn't seem to be injured; there was no blood that Genma could see.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

He'd heard something about the Copy Ninja learning a new doujutsu, one that made Itachi's deadly Tsukuyomi seem like child's play. But _that_… what had just happened…

That could not simply be just a doujutsu.

It was certainly aptly named, he thought wryly. _Kamui._

And then, with a shiver, a more depressing thought- _If that's what the Uchiha were capable of, I feel a bit more relieved knowing that they're dead. _

There was an explosion from Deidara's side of the cave, and that seemed to break the spell. Genma tore himself away from the sight and sprinted forward to Sasori, Tenzou and Kurenai on his tail. Like before, Tenzou restrained him, though they kept their distance this time, and Genma took out a good, old-fashioned kunai and examined his target.

"You won't be getting us like last time again."

Sasori just closed his eyes. He seemed a bit tired, and Genma felt that it had nothing to do with the fight. Slowly, the man gestured with his chin to his odd, exposed chest, which looked strangely like… a puppet's?

"Stab me where my heart should be," he murmured, indicating an odd, violet cylinder sticking out of his body. "I'd rather not spend all day being stabbed when you're doing nothing but ruining a perfectly good puppet's body. …I'm glad you were strong enough… for me to die with what little honor I have still intact. Oh, and, by the way, you might want to get your hand looked at, senbon-user."

Genma frowned. He looked down by reflex…

To find a scratch on his palm.

When he looked back at Sasori, a cold terror in his heart, the puppet master nodded lightly. "If fever hasn't killed you in three days, then the pain will."

Genma swallowed, then wiped his expression clean and let the kunai fly cleanly into the creature's heart, core- whatever it was. "Was expecting to die, anyway," he muttered, more to himself than Tenzou or Kurenai. "This isn't a surprise."

Kurenai hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder, eyes wide in earnest concern. "Genma… if we get you back to Konoha, then, maybe, there'll be a chance-"

"You read the mission details," he spat, shaking her hand off of him. "Returning alive is not a priority. And besides, Danzou would just find some other way to kill us. Come on. Let's go help the others. Don't mention this to them."

When the senbon-sucker leaped away, it was only with sad looks and heavy hearts that his teammates followed him.

They joined into the fight against Deidara just in time for a yell of, _"Katsu!"_ and for an explosion to destroy the cave floor and create a chasm at least fifteen feet deep. Kakashi seemed to be taking lead despite his exhaustion, Gai and Asuma backing him up. Without knowing his plan, they simply joined into the fight, keeping their distance and taking what blows they could so Kakashi could accomplish whatever his plan was.

"So, you brats thing you're something because you killed Master Sasori, hmm," Deidara called, chuckling as he did so. "Too bad you didn't know that I'm the stronger of the pair!"

Kakashi continued to press on against him, moving so close and so fast that it was almost impossible for Deidara to use explosives without blowing himself up, too. Snarling in frustration, the blond artist resorted to primarily taijutsu, kunai to kunai- but it quickly became clear that Kakashi was outmatched. Whatever he had done with his eye earlier, he was exhausted, and it was showing. Even with his team to back him up, Deidara was still faster than him.

Genma prepared himself to jump into the fight and stop whatever nonsense the Copy Ninja was doing before he got himself killed, but Gai caught his eye before he could. If anyone would refuse to put up with his self-sacrificing habit, it was him, yet he was remaining behind, content to provide back up and watch his eternal rival get pummeled. And, as eccentric and just plain creepy as the man was, Genma knew without a doubt he was loyal.

Whatever Kakashi was planning, Gai knew what it was, and he was letting it happen. Genma would have to, too.

But Genma was quite sure that Kakashi's plan did not include a kunai to the heart.

He stared in horror as the metal blade plunged into Kakashi's flesh. It pierced through vest and shirt to puncture flesh, and Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise, the kind of open-mouthed disbelief Genma had seen on far too many dead men, when they and been caught from behind and weren't expecting, weren't ready to, die.

"Art is a blast, hmm."

And then Kakashi smiled.

"No," he corrected mildly. "Art is an _explosion_."

Then, so saying, he exploded.

Okay, so maybe his plans _had_ included a kunai to the heart.

Genma stared as Kakahsi's body disintegrated in a flash of lightening, flesh and organs disappearing in nothing but white, viciously hot light that overtook his enemy in a blinding wave of destruction.

There was a rattle near him, and Genma jumped, staring down at the ground as Kakashi himself emerged, tired but unharmed, eyes curved into a smile. He clambered to his feet and dusted himself off. "_Raiton: Kage bunshin_," he murmured, chuckling a little. "It's my specialty."

"Thought Raikiri was your specialty, dumb shit," Genma snapped, more than a irritated after watching Kakashi die, _again_, only to find out it had been part of his plan and been just a dumb kage bunshin. Kakashi just smiled mildly at his words before turning back to Deidara, who had collapsed, shaking and smoking and hair frizzed up around his head in an electric halo. Genma could smell burned, charred flesh and coughed at the horrible scent, watching as Kakashi approached his enemy without hesitation.

"You bastard!" Deidara snarled weakly, scrambling to back away from the copy ninja but in far too much pain to accomplish it. Finding retreat impossible, he brought his hands together in a seal and gave a feral grin. "_Katsu!_"

Kakashi chuckled and brushed a harmless little clay spider off his shoulder. "I'm sorry, it didn't seem to explode. Want to try again?"

"You… what did you do?!"

Kakashi gave a wicked smile. "Your moves are earth based."

"How did you-"

"Keep your hands hidden when you fight a Sharingan user. I saw every single seal you made. And, as any shinobi knows, lightening beats earth, every time."

Deidara's eye widened when the Copy Ninja casually took a kunai out of his pouch and eyed it idly, running his finger along the edge. "When I stabbed you… you…"

"Electricity travels along metal. Lightening is electricity. Your body is as full of lightening Chakra as mine is. It's clashing rather nicely with your earth-based Chakra and won't dissipate for several days; not to mention I just electrocuted the hell out of you. You won't be fighting anybody anytime soon."

"Then it's a good thing we're here."

* * *

Jutsu:

Akahigi: Hyakki no Shouen- Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets

Kamui- Might of the Gods

Raiton: Kage bunshin- Lightening Release: Shadow Clone


	18. Chapter 18

_"Then it's a good thing we're here."_

The new voice was honestly enough to make Kakashi, just for one second, want to keel over and pass out. They had already taken on four members of the Akatsuki. Couldn't that be enough? Why did they have to take on two _more_?

With a weary heart, Kakashi grudgingly turned to face their new enemies-

Then almost swore out loud, threw his weapons to the ground, and screamed at the unfairness of it all.

It wasn't two new enemies. It was _four_.

Couldn't they at least be given a chance?

Well, it wasn't the enemy's job to present them with a fair fight, and Minato probably would've slapped him upside the head for even thinking about complaining.

_But, Gods, was he tired…_

Shaking it off, Kakashi focused on the newcomers, already preparing to throw himself into yet another suicidal fight.

One of the enemies was a slight woman with pale purple hair and an iron piercing in her chin. Her eyes were cold and bright spots of orange on an otherwise bland figure, her expression seeming almost tired as she examined her targets, as if this would take a great effort she couldn't be bothered to expend. There was a paper rose the same color as her hair tucked behind her ear that he took note of; it seemed to have no purpose, but, with an Akatsuki member, one could never be too careful.

But it was the other three, though, that made his heart stop.

They all had the same iron piercing as the woman, but many more; they were large and laid out all over their visible skin, and certainly weren't there for aesthetic appeal. Two had bright orange hair the same shade as Naruto's jacket while the other's scalp glinted palely in the low light, revealing even more piercings buried into his skull.

As strange as their appearance was, it was their eyes that drew his full attention.

Pale purple, with tiny rings circling the pupil.

_Dear lord… _

Kakashi took a shaky step back, feeling his blood run cold as he worked his jaw, trying to speak, but no words came out. That simply could not be what he thought it was. It just could not be.

It was only Genma collapsing against his side that made him tear his gaze away from the terrifying sight. He caught his teammate by reflex and narrowed his eyes in confusion, frowning when Tenzou took Genma from him and laid him out on the cave floor. "He was poisoned," the wood user said tersely, turning back to their enemies. "If he's not immune to it, we probably don't have the antidote with us, right?"

"…R-r-right."

Kakashi shivered.

_Five against four. Not bad… if three of those four didn't have the_ Rinnegan.

"Senpai?"

Tenzou's nervous voice pulled him out of his stunned reverie and he shook himself, trying to focus. His sensei had fought and won against _Kyuubi._ What kind of a student was he, unable to stand up to three human shinobi? He had faced terrible situations before, odds worse than this, and lived. He had fought groups of twenty or more off single-handedly and survived. He had to keep his head, or else he certainly would die.

Kakashi faced the enemy and tensed, feeling his sore Sharingan ache as he tested his rapidly depleting Chakra reserves._ Not much left for Mangekyou… enough for one hit. I'll have to make it count. _

Clearing his throat, Kakashi gripped a kunai and barely managed to stop himself from shifting to stand protectively in front of Tenzou. He'd be lucky to be able to protect _himself_, never mind anyone else. "Everyone, be careful," he warned, his voice hoarse. "Those three… I am almost positive that is the Rinnegan."

His teammates all reacted terribly. They gasped and moved back, and Kakashi felt their Chakra practically flinch in terror. Before any of one them could do more than stare, the one with the short hair stepped forward slightly to stand in front of the others, as if he were the leader. "Very astute, Hatake Kakashi. If only knowing the name of my eye was enough to defeat me."

Kakashi shifted uneasily. "Why are there three of you? There has not been a Rinnegan user since the very first shinobi. How are there now three at once?"

The woman, the one without the Rinnegan, glanced at the man who had just spoken. A patch of skin on her face began to peel, almost as if it were paper, though she did not react in the slightest. "Pein, we're both tired. Can we please not make an ordeal out of this?"

"I don't like to play games, Konan. The Asura path is going to get Deidara out of here. I will stay, along with the Preta Path."

Kakashi watched coolly as the Rinnegan user with the shaved scalp moved forward to pick out Deidara's limp body. He didn't even try to attack them, and Kakashi was glad for it- he was not at all keen to fight someone with the Rinnegan, and fighting _three_ of those someones at once was daunting.

The creature walked past them, Deidara in his arms, body creaking mysteriously almost as if he were one of Sasori's puppets. His Akatsuki robe hid whatever was making that noise from view as the man walked leisurely to the mouth of the decimated cave, leaving his teammates behind him.

Taking a breath to try and calm his frazzled nerves, Kakashi turned back to the three left watching them. "Tenzou, you're alone on this one. Take the woman. The rest of us will take the other two."

The man who seemed to be the leader sighed quietly, then glanced at his female partner. "I was just informed that Itachi and Kisame will be here in twenty minutes. Let's try to wrap this up before they get here."

_Itachi and Kisame? This situation is actually going to get_ worse_?! _

Konan merely nodded, as if bored- then spoke again. Her voice had shifted subtly, a hint more involved and aware as if she were no longer bored just by being present, and her orange eyes were now focused on her opponents with a tired look that said, very plainly, _you are going to die._

"_Shikigami no Mai."_

Then she disintegrated into a swirl of paper.

Without any other choice, the Konoha team assumed it was an offensive move and the battle began.

It did not get off to a good start.

Tenzou was almost immediately smothered in a storm of _paper_, of all things, and he only managed to escape by practically drowning himself in a deluge of water, water that dampened the paper and made it weak enough for him to tear it apart. Kurenai headed straight for the one Kakashi thought the leader had called the Preta Path, whatever kind of name that was, a glowing orb of fire flying from her hands to his head.

Kakashi and Gai were already running for their target, the leader himself, but the copy ninja still saw out of the corner of his eye when the fire jutsu collided with his hands… and vanished.

And then he didn't have time to think about Kurenai. Kakashi had just leaped forward when his body froze in mid air, hovering several inches above the ground and away from their target, and he remained held there for a brief instant before the man exclaimed, "_Shinra Tensei!_"

Abruptly, as if the world had suddenly flipped on its axis and gravity now pulled him back instead of down, Kakashi found himself hurled through the air to crash into the ceiling. He felt at least one of his ribs crack as he fell to the ground again, the situation now frighteningly clear-

They were absolutely no match against the Rinnegan.

They had only been fighting for less than a minute, and that was already undisputed.

Kakashi saw, through blurry vision, Konan disappear from her wooden restraints and rematerialize behind Tenzou like a paper doll before Gai obscured his sight by falling next to him, a victim of the same attack that had taken him. Gai gasped as he hit the ground, a thin stream of blood bursting from his nose to streak down his sweaty face, short, pained breaths now even weaker than before. They helped each other up without a second thought, but Kakashi knew right then and there that Gai was not going to last much longer.

_Shit. Shit. Shit. I have to do something. I_ have_ to do something. If I don't, they'll die. _

Before Kakashi could think more than that, there was a cry of, "_Banshou Ten'in!_" and he was yanked forward, like gravity had reversed direction again and now was pulling him towards his enemy. His buckled and grappled for something to support him, and he did manage to hold himself for a moment before the force strengthened, multiplying in power as he and Gai were yanked forward once again.

He felt something cold and hard wrap around his chest and he skidded to a stop, looking down to see a slim silver chain wrapped around his torso, clearly thrown from behind. Gai was in the same predicament. They both twisted, turning to see Asuma and Kurenai behind them, clearly unaffected by this new terrifying force and clinging to the weapons they had used to anchor their teammates, fighting with all of their strength to hold them still. Suddenly, the two were wrenched forward, pulled with Kakashi and Gai as their enemy fought back, turning them into rag tag dolls caught up in a tug of war match.

He glimpsed Asuma forming a seal that he didn't recognize and then felt as if he'd just been pummeled in the chest by a sledgehammer. The wind had been knocked out of him and he found himself flying back towards Asuma and Kurenai, crashing into them and bowling the four of them into a mess of tangled limbs.

There were groans and grunts as they struggled to get free and stand, and they weren't even afforded a moment's peace before they were attacked again.

Kurenai and Asuma both ran for their target once more, the 'Preta Path', but their assault was just as fruitless as before. He absorbed Asuma's wind attack and Kurena's fire one as if it took no effort at all-

But the kunai Asuma had mixed into his attack were not absorbed. Their enemy dodged a few and took a few hits, but they were not absorbed.

Kurenai frowned. "Asuma, again!" she yelled, but instead of bringing her hands together in a seal, she ran forward and used his attack as cover for a punch to the face. He rolled his head back and retaliated with a kick, but her suspicions had been confirmed- taijutsu was not absorbed.

"Gai!" she shouted, grabbing onto Asuma's sleeve to stop him fro moving forward again. "Gai! Switch with Asuma! He absorbs ninjutsu but not taijutsu! _Gai!_"

A moment later, a blur of green flashed in front of her and there he was, the blue beast of Konoha was crouched by her side and ready to go. Asuma paused, then sprang to Kakashi's aid, leaving the two ninja to face off against the Preta Path.

"Gai, I want to try something. Stay here until I know if it works or not, okay? Cover me."

"For youth!"

Kurenai resisted the urge to roll her eyes and wondered vaguely if the man had a concussion before focusing. She turned to stare directly into her enemy's eyes and flexed her hands, using all of her rapidly sapping strength to weave one of her most powerful genjutsu.

Sure enough, she found that he was open for attack. Instead of dissipating lamely into nothing, she felt her attack snag as it caught onto the creature and, in reality, his eyes glazed before he began fighting back, fighting with all of his strength to disrupt his Chakra enough to break free. Kurenai tightened her hold and tried to open her mouth to tell Gai to attack, but she couldn't concentrate enough to do anything but keep breathing; it took everything she had to hold the struggling Rinnegan user within the genjutsu.

In her double vision, one of reality, one of her genjutsu, Kurenai was able to watch as Gai ran forward to attack the target. "_Konoha senpu!_"

He went after the enemy in a blur of punches and kicks and sickening cracks as he beat the man into the ground as steadily as one might pound a nail with a hammer. Kurenai watched in relief, then finally released her genjutsu when she was absolutely sure the creature was unconscious and no longer a threat.

Gai raised a kunai to neatly stab the creature in the heart- and then was thrown back against the wall, body flailing comically before he smashed into the rocks.

Kurenai didn't give herself time to even blink in shock at the disorienting technique; she simply ran forward to complete Gai's task. She threw a kunai at his heart as she ran, hoping that if she didn't get there before she fell victim to Gai's fate, at least her weapon would finish the task.

And she did have the benefit of watching the blade slightly neatly into his heart with a spurt of blood just before her world flipped and she, too, was tossed back to crash into the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Tenzou was having his own problems. He seemed to be the worst possible fit for a fight against Konan; every single time he grabbed at her, she would disappear only to rematerialize and strike back, and her offensive moves were certainly taking their toll on him; wood was a rather bad defense against paper bombs, as he was learning.

When she escaped his hold for what had to be the seventh time, he glanced helplessly at the others. "Senpai!" he cried, backpedaling away from the Akatsuki member before he was killed by yet another explosion. "Kakashi-senpai!"

_Why is it_ I_ had to be the one to fight an Akatsuki member one on one?! _

He locked eyes with his senpai just to see him topple head over heels for seemingly no reason at all and latch around a rock like it was his lifeline, body streamlining out behind him like someone was pulling him. If help was coming, it was not going to be from Kakashi; he certainly had his hands full.

"Kurenai!" he screamed. "Gai! Anyone?!"

"_Dynamic Entry!"_

Tenzou winced inwardly and almost wished he hadn't called Gai's name- really, what was the point of _announcing_ your entrance into a fight- then regretted it when Gai's foot collided with Konan's head before she could disintegrate. Kurenai joined the fight a moment later, landing next to Tenzou and garnering a sigh of relief.

"She fights with paper," he explained, panting, "and paper bombs. Restraining her is worthless."

Kurenai nodded and pushed a sweat-dampened curl out of her face, focusing on Konan. "Thanks, kid. Go help Kakashi and Asuma; they could use it."

Tenzou nodded and scampered towards his senpai, leaving Kurenai and Gai behind to fight the paper user. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Gai was also ill suited for this fight; besides his first surprise hit, he was unable to touch her. Konan danced lightly between blows, punches and kicks folding through her skin like it was insubstantial as smoke. The woman was hard pressed to stay unharmed but Gai wore himself out while she remained safe.

Kurenai had a bit more luck.

Once again, she relied on fire techniques and not genjutsu, incinerating Konan's papery form with every chance she got.

Konan had been tired when she'd came into the fight, if her own words were to be believed, and she was outnumbered- that was probably the only reason she was worn down enough for Kurenai to get in a fatal hit.

The woman was on fire when Kurenai approached from behind, running up as fast as she could with a kunai at the ready. Konan was entirely absorbed in stopping herself from being burning alive and, thus, was unable to dodge in time when the weapon pierced her skin and cut her aorta. She collapsed within moments, dead before she hit the ground.

Kakashi, Asuma, and Tenzou all were thrown to the cave floor in an exhausted, broken pile. As they had become frighteningly used to this over the course of the short fight, they just immediately rolled apart and freed themselves to find their deadly opponent was not even looking at them- he was staring at the dead body of his partner. His expression, bland and bored, had not faltered once the entire fight, and it did not now, either, but he still did not once look away from Konan's body. It was almost as if he had forgotten where he was.

Which was just a spot of luck for the team from Konoha, because they weren't exactly in tip top shape either.

Kakashi was nearing Chakra depletion and could barely stand for his practically pulverized ribcage, what could only be expected after being tossed around by the redheaded leader like a rag doll. He was covered from head to toe in scratches and bruises and his breaths were shallow, Sharingan eye aching so badly he could barely keep it open.

Gai's knuckles were raw and bloody, several of his fingers were broken, and after already opening the sixth gate, he, too, was nearing Chakra depletion. His tight green spandex was torn to reveal red scratches, and he was standing only on his right leg as if his left had been broken sometime during the fight, something that was very deadly for a taijutsu specialist.

Asuma's wound that he had sustained during the fight with Hidan that seemed so long ago was growing worse. He could now barely move his right arm, and that meant no seals. The pain was also getting bad enough to be debilitating and it wouldn't be long before fighting altogether was out of the question.

Kurenai was physically and mentally exhausted, battered as if she'd been pulled through a thicket of thorns. Her hair was a tangled mess and one of her eye sockets was full of blood from the strain of using so much genjutsu against such powerful opponents, and her legs were trembling as if she barely had the strength to remain standing.

Tenzou, like Kakashi, was burdened with the strain of using a kekkei genkai that he wasn't meant to have for the entire fight. His Chakra levels were nearing dangerously low, he was covered in burns from his disastrous fight with Konan, and there was a long cut on his forehead that kept obscuring his vision with blood.

Genma was still unconscious from poison.

Primarily Chakra exhausted, beaten and battered and bleeding… and not at all happy to see the four new enemies standing in the mouth of the ruined cave.

Two were Itachi and Kisame, and they alone would've been fearsome enough.

Next to Itachi was a figure with a slight build, face hidden by an orange, twisted mask with only one dark eye hole. There was nothing particularly terrifying about him; but, then, there was nothing particularly terrifying about Itachi's appearance, either, and he could torture people into a coma with a single glance.

On Kisame's other side, however, was something that just didn't even come close to being described as half human.

The man was buried in the ground from the waist down. His body was split down the center by color, one half white, one half black. The black side of his face had one large, pale orange eye and nothing else, not even half a mouth, while the half had a somewhat more normal looking eye and, yes, half a mouth. His hair was short and a pale, ashen blond. But around his waist where he emerged from the ground also sprouted something massive and dark green… Kakashi thought he looked rather like a deformed bug caught in an even more deformed venus flytrap.

"Leader-sama?" Kisame question, hefting Samehada onto his shoulder with a hungry grin. "What shall we do?"

Kakashi thought back Genma's words in the bar just less than one week ago.

_When the fight gets to be too much for us, we can retreat. Hide out in Mountain Country until it's safe._

If fighting not one Rinnegan user, but _three _was not too much for them, then this, right here, right now, was. Beaten and battered and exhausted as they were, they stood no chance.

Actually, if they were in perfect fighting condition, they would stand no chance.

"Asuma," he said, speaking very clearly and distinctly. "I want you to get Genma. Be ready to run on my signal. I shall create a diversion."

"That is a rather fruitless tactic, Copy Ninja, if you announce it to your enemies."

Kakashi ignored Itachi and watched as Asuma obeyed his orders, easily picking the limp senbon-user up into his arms and rejoining their shaky line of defense. Kakashi took a breath, closed his normal eye…

And then…

_"Kamui!" _

He aimed the dimensional border straight for the Akatsuki and his team took that as their signal. Kurenai, Asuma with Genma, and Tenzou all ran for the lives, and Kakashi tried to follow them, he really did, but he just did not have the strength.

In all honestly, he had seen it coming.

As he felt his energy deplete and the terrifying kamui vanish, though, he faced death with a smile. Because he had died protecting him comrades, and that was all he had ever wanted to do.

He fell limply onto his back and just kept smiling, waiting for death to come as unconsciousness hit…

"…rival…"

"…nal rival…"

"_Eternal Rival!"_

No. Gai, no.

Kakashi slowly cracked his eyes open, both of them, to see a blur of green above him, and, with that, his entire world came crashing down around his ears.

"No, Gai," he pleaded, but the man wasn't listening. Gai tried to lift him but with his broken leg, he couldn't get them both to safety, he couldn't. "Gai, run!" Kakashi begged, but his pathetic order fell on deaf ears.

"I will never leave you behind!"

_Gai, you fucking bastard, you're going to die!_

Kakashi's vision blurred between black and reality and he wheezed, fighting to stay conscious. He tried to beg him to leave again but could barely get in enough oxygen keep himself awake, never mind speak.

_"Kyoumon: Kaihou!"_

Kakashi's blood ran cold in terror. _The seventh gate? No, Gai, stop! _Gai couldn't do this for him. He _couldn't._

_"Hirudora!"_

_No!_

And then, with a deafening crash, what remained of the cave's ceiling caved in. With the Sharingan, Kakashi was able to watch death approach Gai as if in slow motion and it made him want to sob. He tried with all of his might to use Mangekyou one last time, but he couldn't, he just couldn't…

_Obito, I'm sorry. I can't save him. _

As darkness fell, Kakashi could've sworn he saw the a flash of orange and black, and then Gai vanish into a kamui vortex. But it was probably just his imagination.

It had to be…

* * *

Jutsu:

Shikigami no Mai: Dance of the Formula Paper

Shinra Tensei: Almighty Push

Banshou Ten'in: Universal Pull

Kyoumon: Kaihou- Seventh Gate of Shock: Open

Hirudora: Daytime Tiger


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you for reviewing!

* * *

Iruka gazed up at the dark expanse of sky over the forest, shoulders slumped. His hair was let free from his ponytail and hung about his face, just the way Kakashi liked it, as he watched wisps of cloud move across the black horizon, obscuring the silvery light of the stars and moon.

Asuma's story had concluded an hour ago, almost three hours after he had began. Iruka had excused himself as soon as it was considered polite to do so, eager to be alone. And now, here he sat, his chest so tight it hurt to breathe.

The story of just what the team from Konoha had gone through simply confirmed two things, things Iruka had known all along.

It confirmed that rescuing Kakashi and Gai from the Akatsuki was going to be nearly impossible. The team from Konoha had done very well but, in the end, faced with Itachi, Kisame, the two newcomers, and the one with the Rinnegan, they had barely been strong enough to flee. To rescue Kakashi and Gai meant they would not only have to be able to survive against those five; they had to be able to _kill_ those six who were left.

It also confirmed something Iruka had never been uncertain about in the first place; despite the danger, there was absolutely no choice in the matter- they _had_ to rescue Kakashi.

Kakashi had given up his life for his team to get away. He had risked it so often to save them during the battle and then actually given it up in order to his friends to make their escape. No danger was too great. Iruka would gladly sacrifice his own life if it meant saving Kakashi.

Like him, Team Gai had also left soon after Asuma's story. From the distant pounding, he could only guess Lee was training, and Tenten and Neji were with him. Training was what their sensei had taught them was a comfort mechanism and it was all they had right now; all they had until they saved their him.

Just like all Iruka had was Kakashi's dog tags, still draped around his neck, and an ironclad conviction that they were going to save his lover.

He heard the door open behind him and soft, nervous footsteps approach. Iruka sensed rather than saw Naruto come up to sit beside him, and his former student paused before clearing his throat awkwardly. "Ah… Yamato-taichou fell asleep again, so…"

"I'm fine, Naruto."

"No, you're not."

Iruka leaned over and rested his head in his hands, feeling his heart clench so painfully he couldn't talk. Who was he trying to kid? No, he wasn't fine. He wasn't even close.

Naruto rested his hand on his without looking at him. Iruka glanced down to see his former student's eyes were glassy and a bit wet. To see Naruto looking so torn up about Kakashi almost made his own walls break, tender walls that were the only things keeping him together right now, but he grasped onto them with all his might.

"I'm going to get him back, Iruka-sensei. And that's a promise."

Iruka inhaled deeply at his words and struggled to hold onto his composure, even as one hot tear escaped and trailed down his cheek.

"No, Naruto. _We_ are going to get him back."

Naruto grinned, then gripped his hand as a brother would and nodded. "We'll get baka-sensei home, dattebayo!" he proclaimed, and in that moment, Iruka believed him.

* * *

The very next morning, KYU was preparing to set out. They had set up countless wards and seals around the small house to protect the recuperating inhabitants from any attackers and left Asuma and Genma ready to protect and kill, if need be- Tenzo and Kurenai still didn't have enough Chakra to do much more than moan.

Asuma was unable to deal seals with his wounded arm; Ino had uneasily warned him that, because it had taken so long to get him medical attention, he might never be able to use seals again. That meant their defenses were sorely lacking, as Genma was still in so much pain even spitting a senbon was an effort, but they did not have a choice. They had to set out to save Gai and Kakashi _now_; Iruka, Team Seven, and Team Gai were refusing to wait a moment longer, and leaving someone with them was out of the question. If they had any hope at all of saving Kakashi and Gai, then they would need every shinobi they had and then some.

Their departure was hesitant and tearful. Team Eight and Team Ten clung to their sensei, Raidou to Genma, while Team Seven huddled around their captain in a nervous, 'last goodbye' sort of way.

"I'm so sorry," Yamato kept babbling, apologizing over and over again, his dark eyes wide and earnest. "I just assumed Senpai was out. I know it's stupid but in ANBU he was always like that; getting his teammates out first then finding a way to escape later. I thought he was out, that's why we didn't go back for him, and by the time I realized he wasn't with us it was too late, we were already being tailed, and I had to get us underground before they could catch us and-"

"It's not your fault, Taichou," Sakura interrupted soothingly, with a promising smile. "Baka-sensei's the one who pulled the stunt in the first place. Don't worry; we'll get him back for you and rip him a new one for making you worry so much."

Yamato smiled weakly while Naruto gave a firm nod in agreement. "You bet we will! So don't worry about us. You rest up here; we're going to kick Akatsuki's ass and drag him all the way back to Konoha."

Next to Team Seven, Genma and Raidou were sitting so close together they were practically on each other's laps, Genma fretting over his lover like a nervous mother. "Be careful, Rai," he murmured, lightly tracing trembling fingers through his short hair. "Please be careful."

"I will."

"Promise me you'll come back."

"I promise."

"God, I wish I could go with you…"

"No." Raidou smothered his worry with a soft kiss and inhaled his lover's scent before tightening his arms around him. "_No_. You've done enough for Konoha. It's time for me to do my share."

Genma buried his head into Raidou's side, shaking. "Rai, if you don't come back, I swear that I will hunt you down and kill you."

Raidou just smiled at the characteristically ludicrous statement and hugged him tighter. "I love you," he whispered, and the little thrill that he felt at saying those words to someone who was not dead and could say them back had not yet subsided.

"I'll say it back when you _come_ back."

Across the room, Team Eight knelt nervously around their tired sensei, who was propped up against the wall and watching them with wide, anxious eyes. "Be careful, all of you."

"We will, Sensei," they murmured in unison.

"Don't get arrogant with these people. They're too strong and could end up costing you your lives."

"We won't, Sensei."

"Promise me you won't do anything reckless."

"We won't, Sensei."

Kurenai smiled softly and looked around at her team, then lightly ruffled Kiba's hair with one hand and Hinata's with the other and gave a warm smile to Shino. "You three can do this. I know you can. Just fight your hardest I'm sure you'll be okay."

Kiba smiled proudly and raised his head, gesturing at his teammates. "You bet we can, Kurenai-sensei!"

Kurenai's small smile grew and she looked between her former students before nodding easily. "I love you guys. Go out there and make me proud, okay?"

It was Akamaru who barked loudly in confirmation, giving her cheek an affectionate lick.

Next to Kurenai was Asuma and Team Ten. Asuma was sitting cross legged on the floor, Ino doing what little she could for his arm without wasting precious Chakra while the other two sat sat back next to their sensei. "You kids have come a long way," he murmured, wincing a bit when Ino tightened the bandage. "Your fathers; they never did anything as grounding as taking on an organization of S-class missing nin. I'm sure they'd be proud if they knew what you were doing. Proud, and worried out of their minds."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Is this your way of telling us to be careful, Asuma-sensei?"

He shook his head with a grin. "I know you guys are smart enough to be careful. You don't need me to tell you. I know you're not too stupid to be arrogant about this and that you're skilled enough to put up a decent fight against the Akatsuki. What you lack for in technical skill and jutsu, you make up for in your brilliant teamwork. From what we saw, the Akatsuki's teamwork is deplorable."

Shikamaru nodded coolly before looking over Chouji and Ino, who both smiled at him. Chouji spoke up. "Asuma-sensei, we may not rival the original Ino-Shika-Cho yet, but we're strong enough to do this. And when we're done here, we're going to get you all back home. Just wait and see."

"…I believe you, Chouji."

The tender goodbyes were said, the silent and not so silent I-love-yous were given, and then KYU departed without looking back.


	20. Chapter 20

Guh... the First Lady complimented our band. The FIRST LADY complimented OUR band! I mean I know she had to say something nice but it wasn't just a stock compliment it was REAAAL PRAISE and I don't think our directors have ever been prouder! And WE have never been happier! I'm sorry, I know you guys probably don't really care, but... I mean... it wasn't even my graduation... BUT STILL! Okay, okay :D Still really excited, but ANYWAY... thank you for reviewing and enjoy!

* * *

Neji spoke as he scanned the hideout with his Byakugan, muttering under his breath almost as if he were talking to himself rather than his team. "…The hideout is under the cave- or what's left of it, anyway… not many wards and traps that I can see… four Chakra signatures are grouped together nearest to us, two unknowns, one is Deidara and the other… Hoshigaki Kisame. Gods… his Chakra levels are fearsome."

"What about Gai-sensei?!" Lee interrupted frantically, reaching up to grasp his teammate's shoulder in fear. "Do you see him?"

"Yeah, and Kaka-sensei?! Is he there?!"

"I'm looking," Neji snapped. "There's a lot of stray Chakra in the ground, probably from before their hideout here was destroyed. It's hard to look for people. Wait, I see something…"

"_Well?!_" Naruto and Lee both exclaimed in the same moment, leaning forward anxiously when the Hyuuga slumped back against the tree, his kekkei genkai fading.

"There are two people that I can not identify because their Chakra levels are so low. They are alive but both would likely possess near-fatal symptoms of Chakra depletion. A floor below the Akatsuki members. No guards. Something was with them that was draining their Chakra but they're both alive. Based off this information… it is likely that they are Gai-sensei and Kakashi-san."

These simple words were enough to nearly render Iruka worthless. The chuunin dropped his head into his hands for a brief moment and let out a shuddering sigh of relief, fingers raking through his tied back hair. Naruto and Sakura both reached out to comfort him but he had already raised his head, brown eyes filled with a fiery determination as he turned to the hideout, kunai clenched tightly in his fist.

Tenten let out a tiny sob of relief before clamping her hand over her mouth while Lee just nodded firmly and twisted to glare at the Akatsuki hideout, his hands actually shaking from rage. "Let's go!" he cried, pointing forward. "What are we waiting for?! Let us go and save Gai-sensei and his eternal rival!"

"Not so fast," Raidou murmured, shifting to draw out a poisoned kunai from his holster. "Team Seven, Team Gai, Iruka-sensei. I know how much you wan to see them, but you absolutely can not go to them until we have defeated the Akatsuki. Remember, as long as we stick together, we outnumber them. We have some idea as to their abilities whereas they know nothing about ours. We have to stick together. This is an order. Going after them before we have won could get us all killed. Do you understand?" The scarred jounin searched their faces, making sure they were listening as each and everyone of the group nodded slowly, if a bit grudgingly. With a sigh, he shifted in his crouch before gesturing forward with his weapon.

"Good. And, a bit of hope- if the Akatsuki members stay behind to fight, it is likely the prisoners are very important to them- which Gai and Kakashi would be. There's no reason the decimated Akatsuki would remain behind to defend just an expendable fort. Now… Separate into teams. Neji, lead the way. Go!"

Neji lead Lee and Tenten down off the cliff to the Akatsuki's cave and the others moved behind, drifting apart into their tactical formations as they approached, intent on finally, _finally_ saving their loved ones.

The Hyuuga found the weak spot in the ground, devoid of traps or any other protections, with his Byakugon and smashed through it with a cry of, "_Hakke Kushou!_" Everyone followed after him to land in the underground cavern, already in their squads and prepared to fight, to be greeted by four members of the Akatsuki.

It was the four they had suspected to find. There was Kisame and Itachi standing of to the side, seeming to have been in the middle of a quiet discussion. Sitting alone was Deidara, a small clay bird in his hands, blue eye watching it with such tenderness it very certainly did not bespeak of a murderous Akatsuki member. And, also by himself, was the figure that they recognized as Hidan based off the others' descriptions, and he was…

Stabbing himself in the shoulder?

Well, they had said he was a masochist, but that was taking it a bit far…

The four Akatsuki members reacted as only ninja could, leaping into action, drawing out weapons and preparing to fight. When they saw who the newcomers were, though, and the sheer size of their party, they all reacted with varying degrees of shock.

"What the hell is this supposed to be, hmm?!" Deidara yelled. "Here I was, having a good time, and now _this?!_ God damn it. And we just repaired the ceiling, too!"

"Where the fuck is Zetsu?!" Hidan screamed, adding in his two cents as he slammed his scythe against the floor in frustration. "That worthless asshat was supposed to keep watch! I swear to fucking hell, that inhuman freak is good for nothing more than being a schizophrenic waste of space! Fucking hell!"

"Itachi-san, your old village is here to cause us trouble again. And look, they brought us the Jinchuuriki as a present. Samehada's been hungry for a nice meal; he'll be tasty."

Itachi sighed quietly. "Kisame, you are not to kill him and you know it. And the rest of you, stop being so dense. These are primarily chuunin… probably out for revenge for Maito Gai and Hatake Kakashi."

"Jashin is going to go crazy with these sacrifices, then! He loves loyal blood!"

"…Ahem… Anyway. You three, I trust you to take care of this. I am going to go take care of the prisoners."

Hidan glared and pointed his scythe threateningly at the traitorous Uchiha. "Hey! You fuckhead! I've been wanting to sacrifice those two since we got them; but noooo, had to settle for torturing them instead because Leader-sama wanted to know where the others were at! You don't get to kill them now! They are _supposed to be sacrifices!"_

Iruka listened anxiously, praying for one of them to just once, _once_, refer to the prisoners by name so then he would know, he would know it was Kakashi- but they wouldn't. The prisoners could be anybody.

But then he saw Uchiha Itachi just sigh and turn away to vanish down a dark, rocky staircase to the floor below, and he couldn't control himself.

"_Kakashi!_" he screamed, throwing himself forward only to have Raidou catch him by the collar.

"Iruka-sensei, stay back! Stay back! Remember what I said!"

Hidan perked up at that and turned back to look Iruka up and down with the oddest look in his eye. "Iruka?_ Iruka?!_ Oh, ha ha ha ha haaaa! This is too fucking good!"

Iruka tensed, looking back at the religious masochist as he howled and feeling a cold worry congeal in his stomach. There was something very, very sinister about the laugh, and he decided he definitely did not want to know why he was laughing.

But the man told him without asking, and Iruka was right; he wished he had never, ever heard what Hidan said next.

"_You're_ the cute little dolphin Kakashi always screamed for? Aww, fuck, but do I see it now! I wonder, dolphin boy, how would you feel if I told you how Kakashi screamed your name when I took him from behind? Cried like a little baby, too. Never once did the fucker give up his teammates but he kept screaming for you. And hell did he fight when I asked if he thought you'd like it if I did to his dolphin what I was doing to him."

Iruka saw red.

That man was talking and _laughing_ about torturing Kakashi. _Laughing_ about it.

He was going to die.

Iruka did not even feel him shake off Raidou's hand as he ran forward with a feral yell, all lessons in stealth and taijutsu forgotten as he raised the kunai to stab Hidan in the heart. He could do nothing else until that man was dead, until that man was dead _by his hands._

He was so furious he did not care when Hidan caught him in a headlock and kept on fighting despite lack of oxygen, kept on kicking and flailing and screaming.

"Just as feisty as Kakashi. I fucking love it! Jashin's going to go nuts for this sacrifice! Deidara, my man, a little privacy, if you please?"

Deidara scowled. "Oh, screw off. I am not 'your man' and I swear that I will not be repairing any shit this time. It's all on you, you religious masochist, hmm."

"Eat a dick, fuckhead!"

"You know what? I changed my mind! I hope you die, asshole!" The blond artist furiously threw out a few off his trademark clay bombs, then cried, "_Katsu!_"

Iruka saw the ceiling cave in around them and just kept on fighting with all of his strength. He didn't care if he died here and now; this man was going to die if it was the last thing he did.

One of the cascading rocks must've hit Hidan on the head because he suddenly swore and his grip weakened enough for Iruka to break through. He jerked away, squirming like a little hellcat as he scampered back to the new rocky wall of his prison with Hidan and slipping into a crouch, trembling with restrained rage and holding himself still with everything he had.

Hidan grinned wickedly, still rubbing his head a bit. "Oh, little dolphin wants to fight? Fuck yes! I love me a good fight!"

Iruka said nothing in reply. He ran through all the information he knew about this creature in his mind, every last bit of fear burned away from his veins to be replaced by nothing but a cold, hard determination… and an eagerness to kill. He wanted to have this man's blood on his hands.

Kakashi had once told him that he had experienced the feeling of wanting to kill someone. Not just wanting them dead, but needing to be the one to kill them. He said that such blood lust only arose when he was carrying out his life's duty to protect the people he loved.

Iruka had thought back to when he'd fought Mizuki to protect Naruto, but he hadn't wanted to kill him. He hadn't wanted to hurt him, he had just wanted to keep Naruto safe and _not_ kill his old, best friend. And the very idea of _him_ protecting _Kakashi_ was laughable, so he had supposed he would never feel this blood lust and was glad for it.

Now he did, and it did not scare him. The thought of dying did not scare him. Nothing did.

Hidan was going to die.

The masochist twirled his scythe eagerly and took a step forward, tempting him. "Well, you little fucker? Thought you were mad at me? Thought you were _furious_ at me for hurting your little Kakashi? Do you want me to describe to you how he screamed when we had sex?"

_He's trying to make you mad. Focus, god damn it. Don't let him or he will kill you. Focus, Iruka, focus, don't let him get to you. _He made a valiant effort not to picture the scene Hidan was describing and just glared.

Hidan laughed loudly at Iruka's non-reactions. "Nothing? Guess you didn't care about him that much."

"I'll show you how much I care about him."

Hidan tsked quietly and jumped forward, slicing at him with his scythe. Iruka barely managed to dodge and had to keep at it, moving as fast as he could just to keep himself away from the cursed weapon. "No, no, little dolphin! Past tense, past tense. _Cared_ about him. Fucking bastard's dead. What, you thought I was talking about sacrificing _him?_ We killed the bastards a few days ago."

It took everything Iruka had to stop his heart from shattering.

"I. Don't. Believe. You," he snarled.

"He fucking _screamed_ for you, _Iruka_, screamed so loud it hurt my dammed ears. I sacrificed him for Jashin and he just cried like a little girl for you the whole time; kept on crying and screaming. _Ha!_ Put up a little fight, but Jashin took him in the end."

Those words did all Hidan could ask them to. They made Iruka hesitate for the briefest moment, trip up as the image of Kakashi dying and screaming in agony flashed through his mind; there was so much blood, Kakashi was covered in it, he was so _red_-

_Oh, god_-

Iruka froze when blood dripped down into his eye.

What?

Hidan gave a triumphant cackle, raising his scythe up into the air- his _bloodied _scythe.

_Oh, no._

Iruka felt his blood run cold as the man lowered the weapon to his mouth so he could lick off the cold liquid, laughing as he did so. His skin changed color, shifting in a horrifying motion to become black and white, and Iruka just stared, why wasn't he moving? and _watched_ as Hidan began to traced out the bloody seal onto the ground.

This wasn't the end, he tried to convince himself, he could still win this. He could still win this thing.

"_Jujutsu: Shiji Hyouketsu."_

_You can still win, Iruka! Focus!_

_"Now_ let's have some fun!"

Iruka just had to think, he just had to fucking think. He taught his students so much more than how to hold a kunai and use jutsu; Iruka made a living teaching them to keep their head in a fight and strategize. That was all he had to do. Strategize. Strategize like Kakashi had in his first fight with the immortal, think, think, think…

That was pretty hard to do when he was being stabbed, though.

Iruka stumbled back and clutched at his chest, red suddenly blossoming on his vest as pain ripped through his abdomen. He let out a pained cry through gritted teeth as Hidan gave another wicked laugh and cry of pleasure-

_Ignore him, think, think, think, ignore him and the pain, survive, think, Iruka- _

What did he know? What were Hidan's weaknesses?

If he was moved out of the seal, then his technique would be rendered inactive. But Iruka was only one person; it had taken Kakashi's and Gai's combined efforts to get him out of the seal and they weren't cursed like he was, he couldn't-

_Stop over thinking it, just what are his weaknesses?! _

As long as their bodies were linked, whatever happened to Hidan's happened to his. If there was something the immortal's body couldn't withstand that his could… but what-

"_Gaaaaargh!_' he screamed, shaky legs giving out from under him and blood rising in his throat; he coughed violently and his chest begin to burn horribly-

_If I don't do something quick, I'll be dead! _

_Think, Iruka! Think!_

A stinging pain in his arm-

Something was breaking his rib-

His lungs were being crushed-

_That's it! _

_Ruru, damn jutsu crushed my lungs… take off of the Fourth Mizukage's technique… incapacitates opponent completely, wanna help me train… _

Iruka had watched Kakashi train for months, helping him to try and master it…

_Oh, hell, Iruka… I give up… impossible for someone who's Chakra isn't primarily water…_

The sparks of an idea had begun then and there… Iruka had trained to use it without telling Kakashi, trained to use it and mastered it…

It just might work.

_Thank god for you, Kakashi!_

"_Graaaagrh!_" Iruka's pained scream was cut off when he coughed up blood but he turned to Hidan and focused through the pain, focused with all of his strength. Survival was not guaranteed, but it _would_ incapacitate the immortal and when Naruto and the others came, they would find a way to kill him.

That was all he asked for.

"Oh, are you going to try a little jutsu?" Hidan taunted and halted a scythe an inch above his own flesh, eyes widening eagerly. "Try it, you little fucker! Try it!"

Iruka brought his hands together, slowly forming the seals he had practiced for months. He moved them without haste, focusing intently to stop himself from making the slightest mistake. The sequence took almost a full minute but he breathed through the pain, breathed in and out, in and out, _focus, Iruka-_

_"Suiton: Kakezan no jutsu." _

Nothing happened.

Hidan let out a disappointed sigh and twirled his weapon around to stab himself again, shaking his head. "Awww, come the fuck on! Just wanted a little fun but no, you couldn't even manage that! Fuck it!"

Just as the weapon swooped down to his chest, he coughed up a little dribble of water.

Iruka smiled grimly.

Hidan coughed again, and his eyes widened in disbelief when the water spilled out onto his cloak. "You… what the fuck did you do?!"

Iruka just shrugged before coughing himself. Despite his best efforts to maintain his system through the overload of water with purely elemental Chakra, it was becoming too much. It took all of his concentration just to maintain the jutsu's use on himself; he couldn't do anything more.

Hidan chuckled, then. "Whatever it is you've done, it'll hurt you, too! Fuckhead!"

"I'm not… using it… on you," Iruka whispered, breaths coming a bit shorter now. "I'm using it… on… myself."

Hidan said something, Iruka wasn't sure, he couldn't hear anything through concentrating to kill himself. If he kept it up a bit longer, then the jutsu would just multiply on its own and he could concentrate to keep himself alive.

He felt his limbs become heavier and it was suddenly hard to remain standing, and when he coughed again, it was with a spray of water. The jutsu was racing out of control now, and Iruka could feel the water in his own blood multiplying itself, the concentration increasing and taking over, filling up his arteries and rising to his throat, pouring into his lungs no matter how much his Chakra tried to absorb it. Every tiny little gasp was more air than he could take but his vision was starting to go black from lack of oxygen and he heard Hidan fall to his knees across from him.

Iruka held onto the reins of the jutsu for as long as his concentration could hold before he canceled it. He was already immobile and choking and dying; it would do no harm now. He absorbed the little water he could with his rapidly failing Chakra but he could feel it; it was already too late.

_Kakashi… I hope Hidan was lying but, if he wasn't, I'll see you on the other side. I love you._

Iruka coughed and choked in one weak, painful movement, and everything went black.

* * *

Jutsu:

Hakke Kushou- Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm

Jujutsu: Shiji Hyouketsu- Curse Technique

Suiton: Kakezan no jutsu- Water Release: Multiplication Technique


	21. Chapter 21

Thank you for the review!

* * *

_Previously, when Iruka and Hidan broke off from the others_

"Everyone, stay together!" Raidou ordered, keeping a close eye on Naruto in particular. "Do _not_ go after Iruka or Itachi! Kakashi and Gai can protect themselves and Iruka can fight, too. We will get them after we finish here."

The blond was shaking violently with the effort of not running after Iruka, but he stayed put and that was something. He had to realize that was their only hope of staying alive and getting both Kakashi and Iruka back.

"My team and Team Anko: Kisame. Sai, take lead of Naruto and Sakura and go with Team Neji: take Deidara," he ordered, shifting so he stood besides Anko. The teams all shifted to face their targets and Deidara moaned loudly from behind.

"Oh, heeeeell. We just repaired this place after the last time and you know, I don't fancy fighting Konoha shinobi again, hmm."

"Oh? Are you scared, Deidara?"

The blond artist glared furiously. "No, fish-head! Just saying, Hidan's already ran off and Zetsu's clearly not here, and Leader-sama is never around, hmm. Itachi's probably killed the prisoners by now; why don't we just hit it?"

Kisame shrugged, unconcerned. "You do what you want, Deidara. But Samehada's hungry and the Jinchuuriki's Chakra is making him happy. I'll stay. "

"Oh, god damn it… sometimes, I hate all of you. _Katsu!_"

With that explosion, the fight began.

Ino-Shika-Cho launched into their famed formation without hesitation, leaving behind their team captain to snare Kisame. The shark-man watched Chouji's human boulder with a curious eye before moving so fast he was barely more than a blur and whipped out his massive sword to block- and Ino and Shikamaru were shocked when it actually worked.

But they moved on, regardless. Shikamaru took advantage of Kisame's immobility to attack with a Shadow Possession jutsu. He snagged the creature with as many black ties as possible, but Kisame didn't even react with panic. He looked down, not seeming to use any effort at all to move through the jutsu, and chuckled coolly. "What an interesting technique," he said, and he did sound genuinely interested, not at all worried about what it could be doing to him-

And then Ino hit him with her Mind Control jutsu.

It was the most basic of the Yamanaka jutsu, that took the littlest Chakra and the littlest concentration to use. Even a small pre-genin could do it.

And it still took absolutely everything Ino had to keep her hold over Kisame's mind.

The blonde slumped forward and Kiba and Akamaru ran to guard her while Chouji increased his hands to three times their size to help hold Kisame in place while Hinata and Shino moved in to their practiced formation. The Hyuuga heiress sprinted forward with a cry of, "_Hakke Hyaku Nijuuhachi Sho!_" While a black storm of bugs assaulted the man, clouding around him and eating up his Chakra.

The rumors of Kisame said that he was a Tailess Tailed Beast, but if he had little Chakra and couldn't use what small reserves he did have, he was just a regular shinobi.

Of course, that was the theory, which was very quickly disproven.

Hinata's blindingly fast movements had only just ceased and Shino's bugs were still at it when Kisame's sword suddenly snarled and jumped to life.

Hinata screamed as the sword sank its fangs- just when the hell had swords gotten _fangs_- into her chest before snapping at Chouji, biting down on his fist and growling around skin as it chewed. The moment Chouji released Kisame, the missing nin broke free of both Ino's and Shikamaru's holds and had slammed his massive sword into both Chouji and Hinata, forcing them tumbling and turning back over a dozen feet to come to rest in pools of their own blood.

Anko and Raidou both moved forward in a blur, skidding in front of their teams to protect. "Ino!" Raidou barked, sinking into a crouch. "Heal! We've got this!"

Ino followed orders immediately while the two jounin faced off against Kisame, who no longer looked quite as playful and unworried and now was quite a bit annoyed. "Big fish came out to play now?" he growled, dropping his huge, furry, fanged sword over his shoulder. "But don't you know, I'm the strongest predator in the sea."

"And don't you know, blue man, we're not in the ocean?"

Kisame glowered, and then the three began to fight.

Across the room, the fight against Deidara was practically at a stand off, which was depressing, considering Konoha outnumbered him six to one. Neji, Sai, and Tenten were providing backup while Sakura, Lee, and Naruto went on a dangerous offensive, relying only on their teammates to neutralize or deflect explosives as they went after the enraged Akatsuki member.

"All I wanted to do was take a rest, hmm! Work on my art in _peace_ for a bit, hmm! Well, now that's ruined! _Katsu!_"

"_Hakkesho Kaiten!_" Neji forced the explosion out of the way with a concentrated blast of wind just in time for Naruto, Sakura, and Lee to begin their practiced combo. It had taken all fight for them to get this close to the man and they weren't about the waste it.

"_Channaro!_" Sakura screamed, bringing her fist up in a resounding blow against Deidara's chin to send his limp form flying towards the ceiling and Lee flew after him, progressing past the fourth gate to open the fifth as he went.

"_Omote Renge!_" Deidara barely had time to gasp before the wrappings snapped in tight around him and he was hurtling back towards the ground again, and before they had even made contact, there was another yell and a blinding flash of light-

"_Oodama Rasengan!_" An inky bird swept Lee out of harm's way just in time for a gigantic, revolving blue orb to smash into the blond artist. Tenten yanked Naruto back while Deidara rolled a bit in the rubble before staggering to his feet, blood trailing from his mouth and blue eyes alive with fury.

"Why, you little bastards… I was going to take it easy on you, but now, you are just _dead! Katsu!_"

The few explosives the backup team had missed blew up in gigantic blasts of fire and shock waves, scattering the six about them as Deidara dusted his ruined robes off and turned to stalk to one of the bodies; who it was, his identity was still obscured in the dust.

Lee jumped right back to his feet after being thrown to the ground and searched for their enemy, staring when he saw him heading towards one of his team. That enraged him in and of itself and he wanted to kill him for such a cheap shot, for daring to harm his friends and his sensei-

But then the wind blew, the dust cleared, and he saw who Deidara was advancing on.

Neji.

_Neji._

Neji, who had served as his best friend for five years-

Neji, how had become his milestone, his measuring stick, his _rival_-

Neji, who had held him together when word of Gai's death had reached them-

_Neji_-

He couldn't get there in time, he wouldn't be able to move fast enough and Deidara would kill him-

In that moment, all of Lee's rage, all of his sadness and anger and Chakra came rushing up to the fore and he let out a scream, and releasing all that strength suddenly became the easiest thing he'd ever done in his life.

"_Keimon: Kaihou!" _

His foot slammed down to deflect the kunai swinging down to Neji's heart, and Deidara's eyes barely had time to widen before Lee had punched him back with such strength he rocketed back to collide with the cave wall so hard that dust and rocks fells down from the low ceiling.

"_No one hurts my friends!_"

And when the blond artist began to struggle to regain enough of strength to sit, Lee remembered those rare occasions when Gai had shown him the true power of the sixth gate and copied it with a skill the Copy Ninja would've admired. He attacked Deidara with a fervor born of a fierce hatred for the man who had tried to take Gai and Neji away from him, because no one would _ever_ hurt his precious people and get away with it.

_That _was what Gai had taught them.

"_Asa Kujaku!_"

Naruto was just managing to roll himself out of the rubble caused by Deidara's explosions when he heard a yell of pain from across the cavern. He twisted in alarm just in time to see Raidou and Anko go flying in a spray of blood, leaving a very angry Kisame standing behind. The shark man glowered at them before spinning on his heel and turning to face- turning to face-

Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, and Hinata.

Naruto stared.

Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei were bad enough. Sakura-chan was bad enough. But now his very best friends were about to die, too.

He would not allow it.

Iruka had ran to take on Hidan alone because of what he had done to Kakashi. Naruto was strong enough now to protect his precious people, too. Why had he trained all those years just to watch them get cut down in front of him?

No, he would not allow it.

Before Yamato and Kakashi had been taken, they had been training with him to develop his own jutsu. A technique that would be greater than Rasengan, than Chidori; a technique that would make him stronger than Kakashi.

So what good was that strength if he didn't use it to protect his friends?

And Naruto summoned forth all of his strength, every last bit of endurance up and created two shadow clones, then held out his hand for a jutsu.

_Kakashi-sensei made it possible for me to learn this jutsu. He also taught me what it was to a be a shinobi._

_Being a shinobi is being strong enough to protect my friends! _

_"Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken!" _

Kisame was just raising his head to stare when the spiraling orb of compacted destruction collided with his chest.

The dust took a while to settle.

When it finally did, Kisame was lying in a pile of rubble, stunned, and the fight with Deidara had stopped. Everyone was staring in shock at the panting Naruto and his incapacitated opponent.

The sound of someone clearing his throat in the was almost deafening in the silence and every spun around to look in the center of the destroyed cave. There was the creature Asuma had told them about, the black and white man that grew out of the ground like a tree. He spoke loudly and coldly, mouth unmoving, voice gruff and low. "We have orders from Leader-sama. Hidan was defeated. We are to withdraw."

Deidara took one dazed look from Lee to Naruto and held up his hands, shaking his head. "Wanted to do it since the beginning. Ta ta, hmm!" And then he gave a valiant effort to stand up, but it just didn't work. He just moaned and fell back to the rubble, then coughed up a bit of blood. "Ah, hmm... a bit of help here?"

Kisame gave an upset sounding growl at that, and Samehada growled right along with him, but the Akatsuki newcomer was very unamused.

"Kisame, let's go. Leader-sama does not like those who disobey orders."

The shark man growled again before slowing trying to push himself up right, but his attempt to stand failed just as Deidara's had. He groaned loudly, clearly extremely unhappy.

Out of nowhere, the orange, masked figure Asuma had told them of emerged from the ground next to Zetsu. The sight of him made Deidara groan. "Oh, for the love of-"

"Deidara-sempai!" the newcomer cried, clapping his hands together in excitement. "Ooh, Deidara-sempai! You got yourself into a bit of a pickle, didn't you? Don't worry! Tobi's a good boy! Tobi will help!"

"Couldn't you have gotten two White Zetsus?" Kisame spat. He looked like he wanted to behead the masked Akatsuki member, and Deidara seemed to share his sentiments.

The team from Konoha, as scattered and injured as they were, just stayed as still and silent as they could. Perhaps, if they didn't attack, they wouldn't be attacked. The newcomer clapped his hands together eagerly and quickly crossed to Kisame and touched him on the shoulder. The shark man opened his mouth, probably to tell him to get off of him-

And Naruto stared as he was sucked up into a tiny black vortex. It looked almost like a kamui vortex, but it was smaller and less overpowering- and besides, no one but Kakashi could use that move.

Deidara seemed just as surprised as him, because as soon as the masked member turned to him, he swore. "Tobi, you stay the fuck away from me! I don't know what the hell it is you did to Kisame but don't you dare think of doing it to me, hmm! I will kill you this time; I swear it!"

"But Tobi's a good boy, Deidara-sempai!"

"_Stay the hell away from-" _The rest of Deidara's words were swallowed by yet another kamui-seeming vortex, which quickly grew to consume Tobi as well.

The last remaining member of the Akatsuki shifted in the ground to look at the team from Konoha, his face so inhuman it was impossible for them to read it. "You are lucky," he hissed without moving his mouth, "that our leader has a soft spot for ninja who care so much about their friends." Then he withdrew into the ground and left the Konoha ninja alone.

It was deathly silent in the cave for one long moment.

And then Sai took charge as if he was born to do it, stepping up as the only conscious jounin and barking orders like a commander. "Naruto, Sakura! With me! We are going to get to Iruka-san. Ino! You and your team take care of the injured. Team Gai and Team Eight: downstairs! If Itachi is still present, do not engage; your mission is to find targets Kakashi-sempai and Gai-san! Go!"

Everyone remained still before jumping to life. Naruto turned to scamper towards the barricade of rocks that blocked him off from Iruka, his heart in his throat, so frantic he didn't even care why his arm felt like it was being sawed off, it didn't matter; he didn't matter. Iruka was in there.

That weird plant creature had said that Iruka had won, but if that was true, why hadn't Iruka broken out yet? He had to be hurt!

"_Iruka-sensei!_" he screamed, slamming Rasengan after Rasengan into the rocks. "_Iruka-sensei!_'

Tears were streaming down his cheeks because he couldn't take it; he could not take losing someone else. If Kakashi was dead Naruto didn't know what he would do, but if Iruka was dead too…

Naruto pummeled the stone through frantic sobs, Sakura by his side, moving just as fast as he did to get to Iruka. How many more rocks could there be for him to move through? How could they not have reached Iruka yet?!

Naruto finally punched through and felt air instead of more rock and scrambled to push aside the remaining barriers to throw himself forward-

And what he saw froze him in his tracks.

Iruka and Hidan were both collapsed on the ground, unconscious, still as the dead. Iruka was bleeding from his chest and his leg and arm, but it wasn't a lot; it didn't even rival that horrifying night in the forest when Iruka was covered in blood and _smiling_ at him, eyes wet and scared-

It wasn't as bad as that night.

It was much, much worse.

Because his skin was _blue_ and his head was tilted back against the floor, mouth open, a trail of water spilling out to trickle down his jaw and to the floor.

Naruto didn't move until he saw Sakura kneeling over his sensei, working on him, straightening his limbs and peering into his mouth and then he was walking forward as if through a dream to fall down beside him. He crumpled in a sob and hung his head, shoulders shaking as Sakura worked to save him, reaching out to grasp his lukewarm hand with another cry.

"Iruka-sensei…"

Outside, where Ino was working with the injured, the situation was rapidly going downhill. She was one medic, and she had Hinata, Chouji, Raidou, Anko, and Neji as patients.

Her teammates and her best friends were depending solely on _her_ to save their lives and she was floundering under the pressure.

Hinata was bleeding internally from where Samehada had bit her and fully unconscious. Chouji's hands were ruined bits of flesh that she would have to see to immediately if he ever wanted to be a shinobi again. Raidou was unconscious and bleeding from the head, the bone in his arm actually puncturing the flesh in a gruesome picture of sharp white. Anko was coughing up blood and out cold, and one of her legs was bent at such an awkward angle a civilian would've been able to tell it was broken. Neji, too, had a bleeding head wound, his shoulder had been forced out of the socket, and his ribs were broken so badly he was bleeding internally, just like his cousin.

They were all depending on her to help, and she just did not have the expertise, the Chakra, or enough _hands_ to do it.

Shikamaru was helping as best he could, but the Nara was no healer and could only bandage wounds, not treat them.

Ino could not pull this off, she just couldn't.

The situation downstairs in the unofficial Akatsuki dungeon was not much better than the situation upstairs.

The teams had found a cell, recently used, if the fresh blood was any indication.

No Itachi, and no prisoners.

* * *

Jutsu:

Hakke Hyaku Nijuuhachi Sho- Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty Eight Palms

Hakkesho Kaiten- Eight Trigram Palms Revolving Heaven

Omote Renge- Front Lotus

Keimon: Kaihou- Sixth Gate of View: Open

Asa Kujaku- Morning Peacock


	22. Chapter 22

Thank you for the review!

* * *

Kakashi was aware that several things were very, very wrong the moment that he regained consciousness.

First of all, it was warm. It was comfortably warm… it felt almost like late spring. The Akatsuki had always kept their cell just warm enough for him and Gai not to contract hypothermia. What was going on?

The second thing that he noticed was off was that he wasn't lying on cold, damp concrete. He was, instead, on something that was rather firm but soft, and it took him only a brief moment to recognize the feeling of lying in a small bedroll on the hard earth. It was a more common place for him to sleep than a bed, and it took quite a lot of effort for him to stave off the comfort the familiarity brought.

He was also free of restraints. The icy Chakra draining cuffs were gone, and his bare wrists didn't feel as sore as he was sure they should. The Akatsuki weren't fools; even injured, they surely knew that an unrestrained Konoha jounin was a dangerous one. What were they playing at?

And why didn't anything hurt?

That very question shocked him to no end. For weeks, possibly months, the only sensation he had woken up to had been pain. He had been freezing and everything had always hurt, and his Chakra had been nonexistent. Now… nothing hurt, and his Chakra was _there_ and he could feel it, it was warm and settled back into place like an old friend.

Then there was the fact that he wasn't in Gai's arms, or Gai in his. It was all that had kept them warm enough to not freeze to death on several of the nights, and it was often all they could do for each other after yet another torture session, when they just needed something, anything to hold onto. But Gai wasn't with him, and that scared him to no end. What had the Akatsuki done to him? Why weren't they together?!

His eyes opened wide to glaring sunlight, and then a cool, apathetic voice that he associated with nothing but torture and slaughter.

"Do not strain yourself, Kakashi."

Kakashi sat bolt upright and reached for a kunai that wasn't there, already slipping into a crouch in preparation to pounce. He was relieved that his movements were not greeted by a return to the pain and, in truth, that he could even move like this at all; last he remembered, his hip had been broken, and he really couldn't move like this with a broken hip.

But he had other, _much_ more pressing things to focus on.

He was crouching in a messy bedroll on the forest floor, warm sunlight filtering through the green leaves to fill the woods with an emerald light that was almost too bright for his eyes, not after the darkness of their cell with the Akatsuki. Gai was sprawled next to him in another bedroll, asleep, and he looked absolutely terrible; just as injured as Kakashi remembered him being, but that wasn't enough to get Kakashi to focus on him. Not with that voice and the dark figure standing in the shade of a tree.

"Itachi." Kakashi shifted to crouch in front of Gai protectively, his mouth pulling into a snarl- his mouth, his _covered_ mouth, why was his mask back?- and prepared to pull up a Chidori. "What are we doing here? What have you done?"

Itachi shook his head carefully, not making any move to advance or restrain him. "Kakashi, I repeat, do not strain yourself. I did not heal a thing. If you push yourself, your situation could end up very bad indeed."

"Enough with the empty threats. What did you do to me and Gai? Where are we?'

"I could not wait any longer. Orochimaru is on the move, and Jiraiya is still injured too gravely to be of use. You and Gai are going to help me."

"You've got yourself a snowball's chance in hell."

Itachi's black eyes narrowed slightly, though he did not seem overly surprised. "I appreciate the hostility and your loyalty to Konoha. But we do not have time to waste. Orochimaru will be at Konoha in a day's time."

"…What are you talking about?"

Itachi gestured for him to lie back down, ring glinting in the low light. "All your questions will be answered, but you need to relax. I didn't heal anything, Kakashi, I just alleviated pain. You could strain your injuries even worse, and I can't afford for you to be out of action now."

"I'll risk it."

"…I've forgotten how stubborn us Konoha nin are."

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "You're not a Konoha ninja, Itachi."

"Of course. My mistake. …That aside, however. You asked where we were. We are within two miles of Konoha, as close as can be safe. I teleported us in jumps to get us this far, this quickly. When your team from Konoha returned to rescue you and Gai, Hidan had designs to sacrifice you. So I had to move my plans on ahead of schedule."

Kakashi shifted and continued to glare He swallowed back a question about the team's well being and silenced all thoughts of Iruka and his team, giving a sour retort instead. "Why would you care if that religious sadist scarified us? It's rather clear your allegiance isn't with Konoha. And if you really gave a damn about our well being, you would've helped us escape when we were first captured. Besides, what's this about Orochimaru?"

Itachi glanced pointedly at Gai, who was still very much unconscious. "I think I will wait to explain until he wakes. I don't like to repeat myself."

Kakashi glared. "And what makes you think I won't just attack you right here and now?"

"Because you are not a fool. You know you can not take me on alone, and unless I threaten to harm you or Gai, you have no reason to attack me."

"Oh, no, not at all. You know, aside from the whole missing nin, killer of all the Uchiha thing. The Akatsuki thing. The whole 'you're the only reason Sasuke went off to Orochimaru regardless of the consequences' thing."

"And yet, still Konoha's best hope right now. I can guarantee you one thing, Kakashi- if you, through some struck of luck, managed to kill me, then Konoha would be destroyed. In less than a day, I'd reckon. So keep quiet and wait for your friend to regain consciousness."

Kakashi shifted in front of Gai and continued to watch his enemy, prepared to strike. "What if I just took Gai and ran? Would you stop me?"

"No. There is no dire need to. But I am tired from bringing you and your friend this far, and rather ill. I am not certain I could win against Orochimaru alone without using Amaterasu, and I would rather not ruin my eyesight any further."

What was Itachi talking about? He was spelling out his weaknesses like Kakashi was his friend and teammate. Filing the information away to be used later, the Copy Ninja looked back at Gai worriedly and changed topics. "Is that why it was Kisame and Hidan torturing us to find out where our team was hiding? Because if you had used your Tsukuyomi... your chances of success would have been far greater."

Itachi sighed quietly. "Not everything is as it seems, Copy Ninja. Perhaps I simply didn't care where your teammates were hiding. The Akatsuki isn't a team like an ANBU squad; we all share different goals and most simply joined for convenience. Hidan simply enjoys torture and probably didn't care about where your team was; Kisame wanted the practice in torturing two elite ninja for information. I don't think he truly cared where your team was, either. Now, will you stop asking questions? I'd prefer to wait until Gai regains consciousness before we continue."

Kakashi sent another worried look back at his rival and, this time, remained silent.

Waiting for Gai did not take as much time as Kakashi had expected it to. He only had to remain on guard against the treacherous Uchiha for half an hour before his friend stirred away with a violent kick and a scream of, _"Youth!"_, and it was only a few minutes of utter panic after that before Gai and Kakashi sat with relative calmness across from a dangerous missing nin, listening to him lay out his plan.

"First thing's first," Itachi explained coolly, spreading out his hands as he leaned back against a tree, appraising them with those cold eyes. "You have no reason to trust me. So listen to me because we have a common goal- to kill Orochiamru. You have your reasons, and I have mine- and I need you two to do it."

Gai glowered. "Last we heard, the Infinitely Deadly Organizations, the Akatsuki and the Hidden Sound, were Mortal Enemies. Why can you not recruit your own Traitorous Teammates to assist in this matter?"

"Because not everything is as it seems. Also, after I left with you two, it will have been seen as a sign of defection. I will explain that later, if we ever get to it. Now, as to your conditions: I cast a rather complicated genjutsu on you both. Instead of interfering with how your senses see the world, I interfered with how your body senses itself; pain, injuries, and so forth. You can not feel any pain or fatigue as you are. But I did not heal anything, and your Chakra levels aren't much higher than when you left the Akatsuki. Be warned."

Kakashi and Gai both glanced at each other before shifting closer together protectively. "Right," Kakashi deadpanned, "so, your plan is to have us attack Orochimaru for you while we're injured and exhausted and liable to kill ourselves? Great. I'm loving it already."

Itachi leveled him with a flat stare. "I love sarcasm, but not when we're about to fight against an S-class missing nin, thank you. And no, that is _not_ my plan. _We_ will attack him together. I know he's on the move and I know Tsunade is with him, though I do not know if she is there willingly. I also know that he intends to confront Danzou, who has taken Tsunade's place in the village, unbeknownst to anyone but ROOT."

Kakashi opened his mouth to tell Gai to stay quiet, but the man was already talking. "We were suspicious of this for months! Do not underestimate jounin of Konoha!"

Shooting a glare at his friend, Kakashi snapped, "What Gai meant to say is how on earth do you know about that?"

"Because Danzou himself told me. He thought I should be willing to accept new orders to as a double agent. I disagreed."

And while Kakashi and Gai stared, open-mouthed, the missing nin continued as if it were the most normal discussion in the world.

"Anyway, we must fight them here. I doubt Orochimaru would win against Danzou, not with all the… improvements he has made to his body over the years. But they would destroy Konoha in the process, and I can think we both agree we don't want Orochimaru or Danzou in charge of the village. Now, trust me or not, it doesn't matter. Agree to fight with me, for the sake of Konoha. You are both Konoha shinobi, are you not?"

Kakashi could've done with a few minutes to think about it. Actually, he could've done with a few days- but Gai seemed to feel otherwise.

"To defeat the Traitorous Snake Sannin, anything is necessary, even working with a lamb in sheep's clothing!"

Kakashi rolled his eye. "Gai, the expression is a wolf in-"

"I say yes, Eternal Rival! Let us fight to bring down Orochimaru together in the springtime of youth!"

Kakashi looked over at his overly-energetic friend and sighed. Gai was really far too trusting to be a ninja. He didn't think it odd at all that one of the most dangerous missing nin in the world had freed them from imprisonment just because he 'needed their help' in a fight? A fight that he probably could've won himself without help? Did Gai see _nothing_ strange with that?

"Very well, Gai. Kakashi? Are you in as well?"

Kakashi glared at Itachi before glancing at Gai's extraordinarily hopeful puppy dog eyes. Oh, for the love of…

"Fine," he grunted. "But on one condition."

"Why are deals with the Copy Ninja never straightforward?"

Kakashi beamed. "Oh, normally they are. Normally I just kill people who torture me and me comrade. Answer two questions for me, Itachi, and I'll help you fight."

"These had better very good questions, if you're willing to weight the fate of Konoha on whether or not I answer you."

"First question: do you know what happened to the team I attacked the Aktasuki with?"

Itachi didn't seem overly surprised by the question. He gave a slight shrug and shook his head. "I know that Konoha assumed them dead. Kisame has been torturing you two this past month to find their location, has he not? Surely you know where they were."

"Where they were, yes. Not if they were all right."

"Well, I don't know, either. What's your second question?"

Kakashi grimaced and shared a worried glance with Gai before continuing. "What about the team from Konoha sent to rescue us? You mentioned one…"

Itachi paused. "I left with you two before the fight was finished. But I did leave a clone behind to pass on information to me about whether the Akatsuki were going to pursue us; they're not, by the way. Zetsu knows I left and doesn't care much. As to your team… lots of injuries, several serious ones. Sasuke's teammates were both well; I didn't check names or-"

"What about Umino Iruka? Was he hurt?" he asked urgently. "Um, tan, long brown hair, scar across his nose, chuunin-"

Itachi's expression shifted to one of surprise and Kakashi trailed off into silence, his concern rising when he saw that he had actually managed to move the unflappable Uchiha. "He's a chuunin? Konoha could use more shinobi like him. There aren't many that would stand up for their friends like that."

Oh, god… what had Iruka done?

"W-what?"

"Hidan tried to tempt him, he went for it. The two fought apart from the others. I didn't watch that, but I can tell you that, when I left, the girl who was my brother's fangirl obsessive was trying to shove a bamboo shoot down his throat to keep him breathing. He was as blue as Kisame and, what's more, Hidan was incapacitated, too. I wish I had seen the fight so I could have copied whatever jutsu he did."

Kakashi just sat there dumbly, covered mouth hanging open, single grey eye wide. Gai asked about his students but Kakashi barely heard him; barely heard anything. His blood ran cold and he almost couldn't think.

Pictures of Iruka, just as Itachi was describing him, rose to his mind, horrid images that his Sharingan cruelly made all the more vivid and real, taking false pictures and making them seem as true as a memory…

He could hear Sakura yelling for Naruto to help, he could see Naruo stand dumbly in response, fists clenched by his side, tears streaming down his face, and then there was Iruka, Iruka, Iruka. Iruka was spreadeagled on the floor, skin tinged blue from lack of oxygen, chest still as he took in no breath, mouth forced open as Sakura tried to work a bamboo shoot down to keep him alive-

"…shi…"

"Kakashi…"

"_Kakashi!_"

Kakashi jolted out of the nightmare to feel Gai's hand on his back, rubbing between his shoulder blades as he tried to get his attention. He blinked, looking from the ground to his rival, then nodded, no words being to be said. He couldn't help Iruka now. He could ensure that he would have a home to return to, and he _would_ return home, damn it.

Taking a breath to calm himself, Kakashi looked shakily back at Itachi and nodded. "Fine," he murmured, clenching his fists in frustration. "But I don't trust you, Itachi, and I want answers as to what the hell this is all about when we're finished."

Itachi gave a very, very tired sigh and nodded. "Of course you do. Listen, our plan is…"


	23. Chapter 23

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* * *

Orochimaru moved lazily through the trees, unconscious former teammate on his back. It would have been much, much easier if she had just agreed to come with him, he mused. But Tsunade never had been one for doing things the easy way.

Sasuke likely wouldn't have been pleased to know of the situation in Konoha, or that his former Hokage was a rather unwilling guest of the Sound's. That was why he didn't. Not that Sasuke was still loyal to Konoha, but Orochimaru had found it was easier to keep the Uchiha happy. He trained better that way and didn't cause nearly as much trouble. No, Tsunade had been his secret, though Kabuto had been his partner in crime, as always.

He felt Tsunade shift in the cold, deep sleep of sedation and smiled inwardly. "A reunion of former teammates, soon enough. If only Sarutobi-sensei were there, too. Ah, well. It can't be helped."

"There won't be any reunion, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru skidded to a stop at the new voice in alarm. _How on earth did they come up on me without my noticing? Jounin, at least. Probably ANBU. _Gripping Tsunade a tad tighter, he glanced around the trees curiously to find that his attackers were doing nothing at all to hide or disguises their identities.

There was Maito Gai, a creature who was far too loud and dressed in far too much green whom Orochimaru despised. Gai was one of the few ninja who Orochimaru would not tolerate their personality in exchange for using their renowned skills. The man crouched above him on another branch, fists raised, expression blank and cold.

Then there was the Copy Ninja, kneeling on a branch below his and watching him as a dog might eye his next meal. His Sharingan was revealed and his Chakra revealed none of that anxious uncertainty it had when they had lest met in battle; it was calm and settled with only the excited rush from the pre-battle situation.

Then there was the fact that both of them looked like they had been mauled by a wild tiger and Orochimaru couldn't very well figure out how they were standing, but that was a question for another time.

Because standing directly across from him was Uchiha Itachi.

Orochimaru straightened upright and gave the missing nin a welcoming smile, reaching one hand up to release Tsuande from his back and bringing the other down to grip a kunai. "What a pleasure this is," he remarked, jumping a branch back so he could see all three at once. "Copy Ninja, no longer quaking in fear at the very sight of me- you must have learned some new tricks. And Itachi… I'm sorry if you felt left out, but this reunion isn't for old Akatsuki partners, only for the Sannin."

"I think I'll live," Itachi murmured.

"I suppose," Kakashi deadpanned from below, "that it would be too much to ask for you to just give Tsuande to us, turn around, and go home?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Oh, I'm afraid so. I'm just too excited for the Sannin's next meeting. You know, every time we end up in the same place nowadays, those two almost die? Maybe today will finally be the day.

Itachi sighed. "That's what I thought."

"_Dynamic Entry!_"

Orochimaru neatly dodged the kick, as well as Kakashi's three shruriken, and groaned loudly. "See, that is why I've never liked you, Gai. You name your moves ridiculous things and, what's more, you scream them you while you do them. What good is stealth if you scream at the enemy while practicing it?"

Gai didn't reply, not that Orochimaru had expected him to. He continued to dodge attacks, all the while thinking up any ideas he had for an offensive. He was outnumbered and facing two Sharingan users. Kakashi had awakened the Mangekyou and who knew how dangerous he was now; and perhaps he could fight without looking them in the eye, but Gai was too great of a taijutsu specialist for that to work.

There was also the problem that he did not want to experience Tsukuyomi again; no, once had been more than enough for him, thank you very much.

Just his luck, to run into the one ninja he couldn't win against, who just happened to be working with Konoha's two strongest jounin.

"Now, now, Itachi," Orochimaru called, summoning a snake to try and bind the Uchiha, "am I really worth this much to you? You've kept the truth secret for years and now, just little old me is enough to have you talk? I'm honored."

Gai cut through Itachi's bindings and then both were gone before Orochimaru could strike again. "I don't know what you're talking about, Orochimaru," Itachi called as the Snake Sannin ducked under a fire jutsu, but his voice was strained.

Itachi's words made him smile wickedly. Had the Uchiha really not told Kakashi or Gai about the truth of the massacre? Orochimaru had just assumed he had; otherwise, why would the two Konoha ninja be fighting with Itachi? But, if he hadn't... well, then winning just might be possible- through the simple powers of distraction and surprise. "Oh, you think I don't know? Lucky for me, my favorite assistant, Yakushi Kabuto, just happened to be in Danzou's service at the time of the massacre. I believed he was the medic that confirmed the kills."

Both Kakashi and Gai staggered a bit, barely managing to avoid Orochimaru's next attack, and his eyes widened in fake surprise. "What is this… you mean that you don't know the truth about Itachi?"

"Your lies amuse me, Orochimaru," Itachi announced, just after another failed stab attempt.

Orochimaru grinned in response, raising his arm to allow a white snake to emerge. "Oh, how fantastic- they don't know! Story time! Kakashi and Gai, are you in for a treat- would you like to hear one of the darkest secrets of Konoha's past?"

"I don't know why you are lying, Orochimaru," Itachi snapped coldly, another fire jutsu storming through and burning nearly twenty snakes alive, but the Sannin just smiled in response.

"Oh, Itachi," he hissed, "I'm sure Kakashi and Gai will be very interested to know what would have happened if you had not slaughtered your own clan! Why so shy about your past?"

Neither Kakashi nor Gai rose to the bait, but it was rather obvious they were interested. Kakashi's eyes were narrow and his movements were a bit tense, while Gai had stopped shouting out the names to his moves and was listening in earnest. Orochimaru grinned. If he could just get them distracted, he could get Tsunade and run.

_Dammed Uchiha… I see why Sasuke hates you, Itachi. You've only caused me trouble. _

Itachi fought with an edge of desperation now, moving fast and fighting hard to get him too busy to talk. But Orochimaru wasn't having it now.

With a triumphant cackle, he explained, "Sensei and Danzou were worried about the Uchiha, you see. They were planning a coup. And against an army of Sharingan users, Konoha would be crushed- and Sensei wasn't having it! Wasn't it just their luck that the strongest Uchiha was also loyal to the village and not to his clan?"

This time, Kakashi and Gai both twisted to stare at Itachi for the briefest of moments before he gleefully watched a massive snake punch the taijutsu master in the ribs. Gai tumbled head over heels to smash into a tree and Kakahsi jumped in front of him with a protective growl, and Orochimaru caught a quick glimpse of wild and feral eyes before he focused his gaze on Kakash's chest again, wary of Mangekyou.

_I'm getting to them. Good._

He felt Itachi's foot collide with the back of his neck and he moved with the blow, falling face down into the dirt and relying on his snake to deflect the kunai he knew was coming. Orochimaru rolled to the side and continued his story, engaging in a vicious taijutsu match with the Uchiha. "And so Itachi here was given orders to kill the rebels! To save the village, oh, of course; Sensei would _never_ be so cruel otherwise. Hn. But Itachi just couldn't do finish the job, could he; just couldn't kill his little brother. Kabuto found no Uchiha with breath left in his body but there was Sasuke, alive and well. I think it was a show of sadism, don't you?"

Kakashi and Gai were now staring at him in rapt attention, making no move to help Itachi- not like he needed it. Orochimaru was beginning to pant from the exertion and both he and the Uchiha were covered in bruises and scratches, and it was difficult for Orochimaru to maintain enough concentration to talk and fight at the same time.

"After all, Sasuke-kun has suffered so much because of his brother's actions. If you'd killed him, Itachi, it would have been act of mercy; instead you left him alive to suffer? What a fantastic older brother."

Itachi's expression tightened but he said nothing. Orochimaru kept his eyes carefully focused on the lower half of his face and smiled at him, just in time for Itachi's Sharingan-born speed to overcome him.

Orochimaru hit the tree with such force it splintered in half. Wood rained down in front of his vision an he coughed when he inhaled dust, moving to see his feet and backpedaling before he could even see, on the alert for another attack.

But when the dust he cleared, Kakashi, Gai, and Itachi were all still standing where he had left them and watching him warily; at least, Gai was. The taijutsu master yelled, "_For youth!_" and, together, he and Itachi ran forward to attack.

He fought them off, fielding Kakashi's fire and water jutsu as he did so, and the battle continued on until Orochimaru had finally got an opportunity for what he had been waiting to do for years. He sent a snake flying towards Itachi's eyes without looking into their cursed depths; whether he could harvest the Sharingan or not, Itachi was no longer going to be a threat to him after today.

And the snake disappeared.

Orochimaru jumped back in alarm just as both Gai and Itachi whirled around, Itachi giving a cry of surprise; he followed their line of vision to see Kakashi on his hands and knees, wheezing, Sharingan eye closed and his body trembling.

_What the…_

"You fool!" Itachi yelled, sprinting to his side even as Gai swore and whirled back to face Orochimaru. "You didn't have the Chakra for Mangekyou! Kakashi!"

Orochimaru smirked.

He didn't know why Itachi seemed to care so much about Kakashi, but, it was going to be his downfall.

The large snakes descended upon the pair, one smothering Kakashi's form to the ground while another snapped itself around Itachi and squeezed. He fell next to the Copy Ninja, struggling for a momeny within his bounds before falling limp.

With a triumphant smile, he turned back to face Gai's stricken expression and sighed. "That was almost too easy," he remarked coolly, flexing his fingers.

"Yes, it was," Gai agreed, and then his eyes flashed scarlet. "_Tsukuyomi."_

* * *

Orochimaru came to bound to a thick, wooden cross in the nightmarish realm of Tsukuyomi, with a poisonous sky the color of blood and ink black clouds drifting across the landscape. Itachi stood on the sea of blood before him, glinting katana in his grip, dark robes and dark hair framing his slight, pale form as the god of this realm.

How. In the hell. Had. This. Happened.

"H… how?" Orochimaru gasped, and Itachi's blank expression was one of a master torturer when he took a slight step forward, prodding his skin with the sharp blade just enough to draw a drop of blood.

"You were never a match for me, Orochimaru," Itachi said simply. "All I had to do was trick you into looking into my eyes, and it was over."

"But that wasn't you!"

"That is where you were wrong. Kakashi used a rather simple genjutsu when your vision was obscured after I knocked you into the tree. I took on Gai's appearance, and he, mine."

Orochimaru shook his head slowly, thinking back to just the few seconds. "No! I didn't look him in the eye! How could he-"

"It wasn't doujutsu. It was simple genjutsu, Orochimaru. Just a little more complicated than a henge. It was always the plan for you to be left alone with me so you would feel secure in your victory and look me in the eye, believing I was Gai."

Orochimaru glared down at Itachi and spat, knowing better than to try and break out of this genjutsu. "Whatever. So, you caught me in Tsukuyomi. What do you think you're going to do? You couldn't kill me last time."

Itachi watched him with an almost bored look. "That was an imperfect technique, Orochimaru. This genjutsu that I have trapped you in... it is the perfect Tsukuyomi. Would you like to hear specifics? We have time. I can draw this out for weeks if I so desire."

Orochimaru merely looked down at him, maintaining an aura of being in control and seeming just as bored as Itachi. "Right. I find it almost cute how you think such an amateurish technique as intimidation would be of any use to you here."

The Uchiha continued looking at him through scarlet eyes that bespoke of supreme confidence, and his voice was just as solid and unwavering when he abruptly changed topics. "I'm sure you heard tell of how thoroughly I incapacitated the copy ninja three and a half years ago with this very technique, Orochimaru."

"Your point? I am not as weak as him."

"Correct. You are weaker. You see, Kakashi has a natural defense against genjutsu with that eye… and yet I still incapacitated him."

Orochimaru glowered. "You just disproved your own point."

"No, I did not. Because I made Kakashi experience what I did to you… for three times as long. "

Orochimaru's eyes widened, and his blood ran cold in horror.

"Now. Let us begin, shall we?"

* * *

Gai, Itachi's image on his person now gone, caught Orochimaru's limp body as he fell and went about steadily tying his arms and legs to stop him from moving. Kakashi moved to stand beside Itachi, watching him closely as the Sharingan faded and he closed his eyes for a moment, as if in pain. "Ingenious," he remarked, voice slightly shaky, "the way you faked feeling Chakra exhaustion, Kakashi. But you actually didn't have the reserves for that move. When I remove the genjutsu on you two, you will be in trouble."

Kakashi shrugged mildly, seeming rather unconcerned. "It won't be the first time."

With a tired sigh, Itachi moved to pull Orochimaru onto his back, gesturing for Gai to do the same with Tsunade. "Come on. I left behind a genjutsu trap in the Akatsuki for your team; when any one of them tries to leave, they will see me telling them that I returned you two to Konoha, along with Tsunade. They will be coming this way. I should be long gone when they get here, and you will need medical attention. We need to get you out into the open.

Kakashi and Gai followed Itachi willingly enough, moving through the trees to the open road. Gai called out, "We have time, though! Mountain Country is three days away from here!"

"Not if the group is moving as fast as they can. If they're smart, they sent the Inuzuka ahead to get help; with all the injured they have, they'll need medics, too. The Inuzuka will be able to travel the fastest. …He'll probably be at the borders to Fire Country already."

"Itachi's right, Gail," Kakashi said, then looked back at the Uchiha. "Itachi… what Orochimaru said about you… it's-"

"-Irrelevant," Itachi finished for him.

"But you-"

"It doesn't matter, Kakashi."

"But your actions were for the village!" Gai exploded. "You gave up your life for the village and have now been treated as a traitor!"

Itachi sighed. "That was the plan, yes."

"That's not right!"

"We are ninja, Gai. Nothing is ever 'right' in our lives. As naive as you are, surely you understand that."

Gai shook his head in earnest while Kakashi moved a little closer to him, watching him with one eye. "Itachi, you can't… you know that Sasuke is going to…"

"Kill me? Yes. That was always the plan."

"But _why?!_" Kakashi demanded, shaking his head a bit. "If Sasuke knew- if he knew why you did what you did-"

"I killed my clan because I love the village more than it. I left Sasuke alive because I love him more than my village." He waved one pale hand in a gesture and looked between Gai and Kakashi. "But that does not mean I never loved the Uchiha. If Sasuke knew the truth… I won't allow him to hate his family. Let him believe what he believes and hate me. Let the Uchiha go down in history as a powerful clan that was loyal to Konoha, not as traitors."

"How can you care about the Uchiha now?" Gai asked, eyes wide in disbelief. "They are the reason you are missing nin!"

"No. I accepted the orders from Danzou. I could've refused them. I am the reason I am missing nin."

"But still," Gai protested, "why do you not care that Sasuke will kill you?"

Itachi shrugged without looking at his traveling companions. "As I said before, that was my plan."

"But-"

"Listen, both of you!" Itachi snapped. He skidded to a stop and whirled around to face them both, eyes flashing red for a moment in his anger. "What is your ideal here? That Konoha learns about what I did and accepts me back as a ninja? Are you fools? The civilians and other ninja would never trust me. And it would bed unrest; Konoha's government slaughters entire clans without sanction? The village would fall apart! Is that what you want?!"

Kakashi looked almost taken aback. The copy ninja lowered his gaze and paused, uncertain, while Gai stomped his foot and exclaimed, "No, but-"

"But what? I want Sasuke to remember his clan the way he does now. I refuse to take that away from him. Even if you just told Sasuke the truth, how is that justice? You think he could actually return to Konoha, knowing that it was _they_ who ordered the slaughter of his family, and not a senseless act of violence? _Do you,_ Gai?!"

The taijutsu master stared at him in disbelief. Silence fell across the small group, the two Konoha ninja watching the former one in shock and sadness.

And then Gai fell off the branch.

Kakashi caught him before he hit the ground, landing lightly on his feet with his best friend in his arms and his leader on his back. Itachi narrowed his eyes, then turned away to point in the direction thy had been traveling. "My genjutsu is wearing off on him. Come."

"Itachi-"

"Yes, Kakashi?"

Kakashi opened his mouth, then realized he had no idea what to say.

"I… nothing."

* * *

Itachi caught Kakashi as he fell onto the road face first and sat him down next to Gai's limp firm. Itachi's red eyes glinted as he looked him over carefully, then frowned. "My genjutsu is wearing off. My apologies."

"N… no." Kakashi winced as he inhaled, feeling suddenly bruised and broken ribs protest, and closed his eye in pain. "N-never meant t-t-to be permanent."

Itachi nodded darkly. "Others will be here soon. I sense the Chakra of a ninja animal- probably the Inuzkua boy and his dog. They will be able to help."

"Gai first."

"I'm not surprised you're saying that."

An uncomfortable silence lapsed, and Kakashi became very abruptly aware that his shoulder was dislocated- and god, since when had it been a good idea to use Kamui? He had forgotten how much Chakra exhaustion hurt… He grunted when he actually felt his wrist slide out of place, and Itachi did nothing but watch the shadows for the approaching nin.

When Kakashi coughed, and blood rose to the fore and stained his mask, Itachi glanced down at him. "You'll be passing out soon."

"…So?"

Itachi paused, then cleared his throat and returned to his vigil, watching like a bodyguard for the rescue team. "Kakashi. As I've said, I'm not a healer nin. But, working with the Akatsuki, I have encountered multiple situations when I was able to copy several healing jutsu… one in particular would erase signs of sexual abuse."

Kakashi stiffened.

"I could use it on you and Gai. With your permission, of course."

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably, abruptly very aware of how certain parts of him were hurting that hadn't been before, and turned his gaze to Gai.

If his Iruka found out about what the Akatsuki had done to him… it would crush him. And Kakashi was quite certain he'd caused Iruka enough pain already.

Kakashi gave a slight nod, then closed his eye tightly as he heard Itachi begin to approach. "Gai first."

"Of course, Kakashi."

Itachi knelt next to Gai and rested his hands over his abdomen, Sharingan beginning to spin slowly. Kakashi cleared his throat and spoke up quietly again. "…Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"Did you ever know a ninja named Uchiha Obito?"

Itachi paused in his work, then nodded without looking up. "Yes. I did."

"…You are a lot… like… him…"

Itachi allowed a private smile to grace his features as he looked at the now unconscious Copy Ninja, and nodded. "Thank you."


	24. Chapter 24

Thank you for reviewing!

* * *

Kiba leaned over on Akamaru's back as the ninja animal bounded down the dirt path, sniffing the air. He could distinctly smell blood and a confusing mix of human scents, but the overpowering stench of smoke and war from Konoha trampled on it and he couldn't discern anything more than the fact that something human was up ahead, and it was injured, badly.

"Come on, Akamaru," he murmured into his ear, resting a hand on his neck. "Hurry. We have to hurry."

Akamaru barked loudly and began to move even faster, powerful muscles flexing smoothly under his hand. The smell of human blood was getting stronger now; surely, just around the next corner, he would be able to see the cause...

Kiba was right; as soon as Akamaru followed the curve of the path around the trees, he could see what was causing that smell. He just sat there on Akamaru and stared as the dog approached the blood and skidded to a stop without needing a command to do so, just sat there and stared as Akamaru began toeing the bodies when his master did nothing, just sat there and stared until the dog nearly shook him off his back to pull him out of his stupor.

Because poor Inuzuka Kiba had absolutely no idea what to do with the fact that there were four unconscious ninja before him. He had no idea what to do with Tsunade, Orochimaru, Kakashi, and Gai.

Completely. No. Idea.

* * *

"I can't believe that we're at war and _still_ stuck on guard duty."

Izumo shot his unhappy partner a look, then shook his head slightly at the deck of playing guards the man tried to pull from his pocket. "We're on guard duty because the genins are all treating the injured and the village needs to be guarded now more than ever. It's a responsibility; they're not shoving us off to just get us out of the way."

Kotetsu just gave a tired shrug. "Whatever you say, Izumo. Still the same boring work as always."

"The village is caught up in a civil war; try to have a little perspective."

The two chuunins lapsed into a short-lived silence. They were only afforded a few moments peace before a small shape rounded the corner up ahead, the black dot approaching the village at a fast clip. Both men tensed, Kotestu reached up to adjust the bandage over his nose in nervousness as the figure came up even faster. "Get ready, 'Tetsu," Izumo murmured to him, drawing out a kunai.

"You too, Izumo."

They both were ready to fight when they finally could make out the identity of the approaching ninja- or ninja and ninja dog, as it was.

Inuzuka Kiba, missing nin, and his dog were both running towards the village as fast as they could, looking as frantic as if the whole of the Akatsuki were on their tail. A limp blonde was slung across Kiba's back, head buried in his neck, and it looked as if Akamaru was pulling some sort of sled. The dog also had an unconscious companion on his back... a man that looked like...

"Is that _Orochimaru?!" _

Kotestsu nodded numbly, grip slackening on his weapon as he stared in shock. Jiraiya had given orders that if any of the missing nin approached the village, they were to be allowed back in without question. So seeing Kiba was not really much of a surprise, but, the Snake Sannin...

Kotetsu elbowed his partner, drawing him out of his shock as he quickly stood a step forward, holstering his kunai. _"Oi!_ Kiba! _Kiba!"_

The Inuzuka finally reached the gate only to slump over, panting for breath, hands on his knees. He looked blearily up at Izumo and Kotestsu, but the two gate guards were too stunned to do anything but stare.

Tsunade was on his back.

The _Hokage_ was on his back.

_Jiraiya was certainly right when he accused the woman in the Hokage Tower of being an impersonator..._

There was, yes, Orochimaru. One of the most dangerous criminals in the world, tied up and unconscious on Akamaru's back.

And then, on the sled pulled by Akamaru, two unconscious ninja who were definitely supposed to be dead.

Gai and Kakashi- both looking as if they had been mauled by a wild tiger.

It wasn't until Kiba slipped and fell flat on his face that the pair of chuunin jumped into action. Izumo spun on his heel and dashed back into the rebel's encampments, elbowing countless ninja out of the way as he insisted that he see Jiraiya, while Kotetsu immediately sprang forward to see to the three Konoha ninja, ensuring that they were at least alive and not in danger of dying.

"I don't know what happened," Kiba panted, gradually regaining his breath as Kotetsu went about his work. "I... don't. Coming back to Konoha... found them..."

Kotetsu nodded slightly, still stunned, and then they could hear the sound of pounding footsteps. Both men turned to see Jiraiya headed their way, shoving ninja and civilian alike out of his way with Shikaku hot on his heels. The Sannin looked positively desperate and Kotetsu and Kiba frantically moved back as he sprinted straight for Tsunade, kneeling down to feel for her pulse.

"Tsunade-sama is alive, Jiraiya-sama," Kotetsu said sharply, standing at attention. "Her heartbeat was steady and strong and there are no injuries that I can see."

Jiraiya clearly didn't have the focus to look at anyone other than Tsunade right now, so Shikaku took charge, moving forward to stand by Kakashi and Gai. His features were carefully schooled into a mask of indifference and authority, but it was clear to anyone present that he was just as shocked as Kotetsu. "What about Kakashi and Gai?"

Kotetsu shrugged shakily, glancing back to the two bloodied, unconscious men. "Alive but in much worse shape than Tsunade-sama. Plenty of visible injuries and both of their pulses are slow, sir."

Shikaku nodded, then turned to look at the stunned bystanders and snapped at them. "Stop staring and get to work. I need a medic team on these two now. Get them to the infirmary! As for Orochimaru... you two, get him to Inoichi and Choza right away. Make sure ROOT doesn't see. And I want the best medic in the camp to look at Tsunade personally. Again, make sure no word of this gets over to ROOT and Danzou! ...Well, what are you waiting for? Get moving, now!"

The crowd scrambled into action, medics hurrying forward as well as two jounin to take Orochimaru away in a hush of rushed whispers and mutters. A slim, dark-haired woman with the pale eyes of a Hyuuga swept forward to stand behind Jiraiya, and the Sannin quickly stood, lifting the Hokage with him.

Shikaku cleared his throat and looked back to those who remained behind, huddled together and whispering. "Nothing to see here. If you have time to stand around and stare, then you have time to assist the genins in the infirmary. Go, unless you want me to give you an assignment."

The promise of more work was enough for the crowd to disperse. Tired ninjas hurried away while Izumo and Kotetsu sprang back to guard the encampment. Shikaku nodded, satisfied, before kneeling beside Kiba. "You all right, kid?"

Kiba took a moment to catch his breath, then nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Then you need to tell me what the hell happened. Come on. With me." Shikaku lead Kiba away from the entrance to the rebel's camp, Akamaru moving along after them. The Nara took the pair forward, along streets that showed recent signs of battle, which only prompted Kiba to worry. He glanced around in worry, and when Shikaku took him to the Hyuuga compound and Kiba could see a new wall had somehow sprung up to separate the eastern section of Konoha from the west.

Kiba was further worried when Shikaku had to wait for a Hyuuga guarding the gate- that was new, too- to examine them both with the Byakugan and confirm their Chakra signatures before they were allowed access. What on earth had happened to Konoha in just the short week they had been gone?

Shikaku took him inside, and Kiba was able to see that the compound had been divided into two sections. To the left was guarded by another Hyuuga, this one a jounin, while the right had been sectioned off by tent partitions, obscuring his vision. But his sensitive nose twitched and Akamaru whined, balking at the stench of blood, waste, and death.

Thankfully, Shikaku took him to the left, where they were scanned again by the guard before being allowed inside. Kiba was shuffled into what looked like an impromptu command center, many jounin twice his size moving brusquely about the room, maps and blueprints scattered about and orders being taken and given. Shikaku just pulled him forward, through two more doors until they finally reached their destination. Choza was standing guard but nodded his greeting, and Inoichi was kneeling before Orochimaru's limp form, eyes closed, forehead creased in concentration.

Shikaku motioned for Kiba to stay still and silent, waiting for Inoichi to do something. The Inuzuka swallowed and did as Shikaku wanted, but found himself wondering about his sister and mother- they were still in Konoha, and wrapped up in the whatever it was that was going on. The ROOT operatives had come to arrest him that morning in an empty house; if it weren't for the ANBU squad that had rushed out of nowhere to his defense, he would've been killed- but his family hadn't been there. He had no idea what had happened to them in the chaos of KYU's escape.

Kiba shifted anxiously, now holding back an urgent question about his family's welfare. Shikaku stilled him by a hand to his shoulder, but Kiba only had to wait for one more moment before the head of the Yamanaka clan straightened up and opened his eyes.

The man shook his head helplessly and stood. "His mind is too chaotic. I apologize; I can't get anything coherent."

Shikaku sighed heavily. "Add that to the mess of what's happening. Brilliant." The man moved towards the door and called in the jounin guard, instructing him to move Orochimaru elsewhere in the compound. "Don't waste sedatives on him; don't know if they'll affect his system or not. Just keep him restrained and under guard. If he wakes up, find us, pronto. I also want word on Tsunade-sama, Kakashi, and Gai when we know anything."

"Yes, sir." The jounin retreated and took Orochimaru with him, leaving the famed Ino-Shika-Cho to turn to Kiba and Akamaru expectantly.

Before they could say anything, Kiba burst out with questions. "What's happening in Konoha? What's with all the guards and why is it divided up like this?"

"Civil war," Shikaku said tersely. "Us against Danzou. Prompted by your huge departure. Jiraiya-sama told us about Tsunade being taken and Danzou impersonating her- people who believe him, over here, people who believe the fake Hokage, other there. Now, care to tell us how the hell you ended up with two of the Sannin and two of Konoha's strongest jounin?"

"I swear that I don't know anything! I was just- just coming back on Sai's orders- oh, shit! I forgot- oh, god, I can't believe I forgot! Listen, we need medics- or they need medics, right now! Most of them are hurt really badly and they're moving back to Konoha as fast as they can, but Sakura said they wouldn't all make it unless they got help!"

"Hold on. Slow down, kid," Choza interrupted, sharing a worried look with his partners. "Who's hurt? What happened?"

Kiba forced himself to slow down, remembering his mission and all the injured relying on him to get them help. "Most of KYU is injured badly, because we fought the Akatsuki. Sai's the only jounin who can fight and Iruka-sensei is dying and he can't breathe, oh god- they need medics, now-"

"Hey! Focus!" Shikaku snapped, shaking him by the shoulder. "We can't help unless we know who is hurt! Explain the situation! Now!"

Kiba blinked, then nodded, making himself think back and remember. Right. He was a ninja, not a little kid panicking. He had to focus. "Sorry, sorry! Okay. Um, Neji can't see, there's something wrong with his eyes, and Raidou-taichou is hurt re- um, has a few bad cuts on his stomach. Anko was hit in the head and wasn't waking up, Chouji's hands were injured, Hinata's same as Raidou-taichou, Naruto's arm was broken, and Iruka-sensei, we don't know what happened to him, but he's not breathing and Sakura said he was dying and needed to get to a hospital. And Yamato and Kurenai-sensei both have severe Chakra exhaustion and Genma's weak and Asuma-sensei's in pain and can't fight either." Kiba paused, racking his mind to see if he had forgotten anybody- god, so many injured, so many hurt- then nodded firmly and looked back to Shikaku. "The others are fine, or mostly fine, I think; we're all a little beat up but they need medics, now! You have to send some out to them!"

The famous trio all remained silent, accustomed to staying calm and in charge, but it was clear they were relieved to learn that their children were alive and okay. After a moment of stillness while they processed the sheer volume of information, Inoichi headed to the door. "There's two chuunin medics we can spare. Kiba, what direction are they coming from?"

Kiba told him, and then the Yamanaka swept from the room, leaving Kiba to explain just how they had gotten injured- and why on earth six dead ninja were suddenly alive again. It was a long story, one that took almost half an hour to tell. Once his tale was complete, Kiba assured that his sister and mother were all right before asking to leave- but Shikaku shook his head and refused.

"No. If we play the situation correctly, it can be resolved without any more senseless violence and bloodshed. If Danzou gets word that anyone from your impromptu rebel group is back, then he will attack- you and the others are staying under the wraps." Shikaku paused, glancing down at the chuunin, then turned to the door when it opened to reveal a chuunin that Kiba vaguely recognized as a medic in training from his few visits to the hospital.

The man bowed slightly, then wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead as he spoke. "Shikaku-taichou, Choza-taichou, you asked to be informed when we knew more about Tsunade-sama, Kakashi, and Gai?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you. How are they?"

"Hotaru-senpai says that Tsunade-sama seems to have been sedated and is a bit malnourished but unharmed. She thinks that she'll regain consciousness in no less than half an hour. As for the others..." The medic consulted a clipboard, then pursed his lips and sighed. "Severe Chakra exhaustion for the both of them; a Hyuuga had to jolt Kakashi's Chakra coils just to keep him alive. Both have many serious injuries that we honestly can't figure out how they received; they're unconscious and are going to remain that way for a while. They won't wake up for several days, at least- we had to put Kakashi in a coma just to keep him stable while he recovers his Chakra reserves. Both show signs of torture."

Kiba wasn't particularly surprised by this information, but he was pleased. He knew how devastated Team Seven, Team Three, and Iruka had been when they learned that their loved ones were captured by the Akatsuki. They would be thrilled to find that Kakashi and Gai were actually alive- though Kiba still had no idea how they had ended up near Konoha with Tsunade and Orochimaru...

* * *

No one quite understood what had happened.

Jiraiya, sure, was beyond thrilled to see Tsunade again, alive and well, and the Hokage was absolutely furious when she woke up to see the state that her village was in. Konoha was in the middle of a civil war, those that had sided with Jiraiya fighting furiously against the false Hokage, whose skilled forces were had utterly destroyed almost the entire village. Tsunade had walked right up to Danzou's army, Jiraiya by her side, and when she'd seen the fake Shizune, she had lost it. In her rage, the jutsu Danzou had been using to keep up the illusion of his appearance had lifted, and everyone but ROOT deserted him rather quickly when they learned that their commanders had not, in fact, been Shizune or Tsunade.

Orochimaru, deep in a coma from some definitely unknown cause, had had his Chakra sealed and was currently sedated and restrained in the prison ward of the hospital, which had barley managed to escape the carnage. But no one had any idea how on earth he had turned up at their doorstep, unconscious and thoroughly defeated.

The rumor was that Kakashi and Gai had fought him, since poor stunned Kiba and Akamaru had clearly had nothing to do with it. But that was a problem, too, because Kakashi and Gai were supposed to be dead.

The team of medics that had followed Kiba's directions returned with four ninja who were supposed to be dead as well and a whole squad of missing nin, most seriously injured, and this just confused everything further. It was a full day of unrest before a weary Tsunade had appeared before the people, Jiraiya by her side, to explain nothing more than that the squad of returned missing nin was to be pardoned, and fuck anyone who said otherwise. Jiraiya had chuckled nervously when the woman had then turned on her heel, showing her back to the absolutely furious council members and no-less-confused public before hurrying after her to the hospital.

Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza tried to take command in the chaos, since Tsunade clearly wasn't going to do it and ANBU was scattered and confounded. And as they slowly reorganized the village after it had near been destroyed in the internal conflict, the pardoned missing nin who had started all the fighting just a week previously never once left the confines of the hospital.

* * *

Kakashi woke up, and promptly wished he hadn't.

Regaining consciousness with Chakra exhaustion was one of his least favorite things to do. He would be tired and sore all over, and he would have a killer headache, and more often than not, it would be in the hospital. And he _hated_ the hospital.

But, just this once, Kakahsi decided to be glad he was waking up with Chakra exhaustion. It was certainly better than never waking up at all, and, for a while, that had been a very real possibility.

He slowly cracked his grey eye open to find that some considerate person had dimmed the lights. He was definitely in the hospital; no place else had the ceiling that sinfully boring shade of gray, but he wasn't blinded when he first opened his eye and that was good. He let out a little groan of exhaustion and pain and started to turn his head to the side to see Naruto, Sakura, and Sai standing near by.

He allowed himself a small, private smile to see them next to him. Sakura looked a bit tired, and she was thinner than the last time he had seen her, but she looked uninjured and was clearly alive. Naruto had his right arm in a cast and a sling but, other than that, he seemed fine. Sai had a light bandage wrapped around his exposed ribcage but he, too, was okay.

Kakashi felt his heart be put at ease to see them standing there, alive and well.

"I'm telling you," Naruto muttered in earnest, "Sai needs to draw on his face!"

"Naruto, you are so immature! Taichou is still really tired, that's why he fell asleep, don't take advantage of him! Besides, what kind of a ninja wouldn't wake up to someone splashing paint on their face?"

Sai frowned. "I hate to think you're comparing my art to just splashing pain on a canvas…"

Sakura groaned and raked her hands through her hair. "I'm not, Sai, I'm just saying, Yamato-taichou would definitely wake up and he'd probably kill us all in a panic."

"Me and Sai could totally handle some sleepy, exhausted ANBU, even Taichou!"

"It's 'Sai and I', Naruto."

"Huh? You were the one arguing against it! Why is it suddenly you and Sai-"

"That's not what I meant!"

Kakashi smiled easily as the three continued to bicker and almost felt content. That, almost more than anything, was a picture of home.

When Sakura looked like she was about to pummel her two teammates into the ground in frustration, he decided he had a duty to intercede before Naruto and Sai were seriously injured. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "Yo."

The three froze, silence falling like his greeting had made them all mute. All three turned to stare at him, Naruto and Sakura in disbelief, and Sai with his usual innocent smile that hid all emotion. Kakashi smiled at them, eye curving up into his patented grin, then weakly raised a hand and gave a little one handed wave-

"You _baka_, Kaka-sensei!"

-to have the wind knocked out of him by a blond hurricane pouncing on top of him.

"Do you have any _idea_ how worried we were we thought you were _dead _you idiot, and then you just disappeared from the Akatsuki hideout do you know how _hard_ we worked to find you there what is your _problem _do you _want_ to scare us to death, because that's what it seems like, and then we come back and they're all like 'he was just passed out in the road we don't know what happened' I mean, it is _just_ like you to-"

"_Naruto, get off of him!_"

Kakashi blinked the stars out of his eyes as Sakura yanked Naruto back off the bed and slapped him on the back of the head, waving her finger at him like an upset mother. "He is _injured_, for god's sakes! Do _you_ like it when someone jumps on top of you when you're injured!"

"But he _deserves_ it!"

"_Naruto_…"

Kakashi watched, amused, as his blond student pouted before Sakura cuffed him on the ear and turned staunchly back to the bed, smiling sweetly. "Kakashi-sensei, how do you feel?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow curiously. "What, I come back from the dead and all I get is a 'how do you feel'? I thought it would definitely raise my cool factor, at least a bit." He sighed loudly. "Now I'm disappointed."

Sakura giggled while Naruto pointed at him and stomped his foot, blue eyes wide with earnest. "_See!_ He totally deserved it! He doesn't even care how much he scared us, the bastard!"

Kakashi beamed and slowly raised his head off the pillow to ease himself upright as much as his exhausted muscles would allow. "Accusing your poor old sensei of not _caring?_ Naruto, frankly, I'm shocked. Of course I care."

Naruto rolled his eyes while Sakura huffed and crossed her arms angrily. "Right, Kakashi-sensei. Because faking your own death, leaving behind cryptic notes, then disappearing when we _finally_ decipher all your dammed trail, that's all a sign of caring."

"I thought you guys would love it, though." Kakashi sighed again and shook his head sadly. "And here I was, thinking I knew you so well. And what's this I hear about you drawing on your team captain's face?"

Naruto pointed to his other side with a triumphant grin, and Kakashi looked over to see Tenzou collapsed into a chair by his bedside, his head pillowed in his arms, fast asleep. The wood user seemed more exhausted than Kakashi felt, with dark circles under his eyes and his skin washed out under the dim lights. His mouth was open slightly and his headband was missing, and he wore a set of hospital pajamas instead of his uniform. Sai was crouched next to him, an already dripping paintbrush an inch from his skin.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows curiously and glanced back at Sakura, who shrugged. "Severe Chakra exhaustion. He's having some trouble building up his reserves again… probably wouldn't be if he'd just stay in bed. You know, I think he picked up a few bad habits from you, Sensei."

"Now, don't say that. It's a perfectly healthy desire to not want to stay in bed all day. It is, dare I say… 'youthful'."

Naruto and Sakura both looked dumbfounded at his choice of words, and Kakashi took advantage of their shock to reach down and lightly poke Tenzou's hair. "Yaaaaamato," he murmured, poking him again. "Yamato…"

It was the third poke that did it. The wood user flailed to the ground, crying out, "_Mokuton!_" in surprise, crashing to the floor in an undignified tangle of limbs. Tenzou fidgeted again before raising his head, blinking like a deer caught in the headlights, before he locked eyes with a beaming Kakashi "Oh. Very funny, Senpai."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tenzou pulled himself upright and dumped himself down in the chair again, shaking his head. "Of course you don't. Aah… I should've known falling asleep here was a bad idea."

"No, no, I was simply testing your reflexes! And, I am delighted to inform you that you passed; your reflexes are top notch!"

"Sen_pai_," he nearly whined, running a hand through his short hair.

Sai cleared his throat, his paintbrush now mysteriously hidden as if he had never had any designs of Tenzou's face, and headed towards the door. "Excuse me, but Shikaku-san asked to be informed when you woke up, Kakashi-senpai."

Kakashi's eye widened as Sai exited, and he looked back at the others in confusion. "Shikaku? What does he have to do with anything?"

Naruto shook his head and raised his hands in surrender. "I don't have any idea, Sensei. Things are really confusing now. Tsunade-obaachan's, like, _officially_ Hokage, but she's really upset and isn't doing anything, and Ero-sennin is more concerned about her than the village right now- and no one understands how Orochimaru ended up here, or maybe they do now, I don't know… I've kinda been busy here, what with you and Iruka-sensei…"

_Iruka._

_Oh, god, Iruka._

Kakashi felt like the worst person alive. How had he not thought about Iruka until now? Iruka was hurt and he hadn't even thought of him; he 'd just been content to sit here with his team and-

_No,_ Kakashi thought as his stomach twisted in guilt. _Hate yourself later. Iruka now. Iruka now. _

"Naruto, Iruka… is he- _is he okay?_"

The blond blinked, then bit his lip and nodded, but darkness came to his usually happy features. "Yeah. He hasn't woken up yet but… I think he is. I mean… Sakura-chan doesn't know because we don't have any idea what happened to him. But she says-"

"W-what do you mean? He is okay, right? What do you mean, you don't know what happened to him?!"

Naruto shrugged, befuddled. "It was awful, Kaka-sensei. He wasn't breathing… it was like he was made of water or something. And he got that Hidan bastard."

It was just as Itachi had said. Iruka had taken on Hidan alone and won, but at great cost to himself. Kakashi honestly had no idea what Iruka had done. He had trained with the man often enough to know his taijutsu wasn't fast enough to avoid being cursed, though it was clearly some sort of ninjutsu that had won the fight…

_"…_it was really weird. He had a few cuts, and more water was coming out of them than blood."

_"…and you needed a blood transfusion because the jutsu replaced so much of your blood with water…"_

Kaashi sat bolt upright. His sore muscles and tender ribcage protested but he pressed a hand to his middle and ignored it, eye wide in horror.

"Kakashi-sensei? What is it?"

Kakashi blinked, then looked between Naruto and Sakura in disbelief, shaking his head, thoughts racing. It was impossible. It was absolutely impossible for Iruka to have had that jutsu used against him. It made no sense. The likelihood that Hidan was a water user was low, the likelihood that he knew the jutsu was lower, and the likelihood that he would use such a roundabout way to kill was zero.

"Kakashi-sensei? It's okay, Iruka-sensei is alive and he's probably going to be all right…"

Wait.

Kakashi had lived because a comrade had killed the jutsu user.

Hidan could not be killed. That meant the jutsu should have killed Iruka. Unless…

_Iruka was the jutsu user?! _

Kakashi almost fainted in horror. The more that he thought about it, the more he realized that that jutsu was actually the perfect strategy to use against Hidan. It took advantage of his curse ceremony in the worst, most self-sacrificing way and was a foolproof strategy in a solo fight.

And Kakashi could just kill himself for being the one to teach it to Iruka in the first place.

"Kakashi-senpai!"

Kakashi jumped at Tenzou's voice, allowing it to pull him out of his self-decrepitating reverie to slump his shoulders and hang his head in defeat. "I- I know," he whispered weakly, his voice shaking in sadness and horror. "What Iruka did against Hidan… I know what it was, because I taught it to him."

"_What?!_"

Kakashi glanced over at Naruto at the blond's shocked exclamation before he was forced to lower his eye in shame. "I didn't mean to. He was helping me train to learn it myself… he would make sure I didn't overexert myself, would hunt down animals for me to practice on, and helped me with my water manipulation. Fire's always been my worst element, but water was a close second. Iruka's primary element is water. I just never realized that he would try to learn it himself…"

In the stunned silence, Kakashi swallowed the lump in his throat and focused his eyes on a loose thread in the blanket, willing himself to stop shaking. Iruka…

Sakura hesitantly cleared her throat and took a step closer to his bedside, green eyes sympathetic but questioning. "Um… Kakashi-sensei… I'm sorry, but I need to know what the jutsu does in order to treat Iruka-sensei."

He nodded. "I understand." Kakashi lowered his head so his hair hung over his eyes and shivered slightly. "As far as I am aware, Iruka is the only one who can use the jutsu in Konoha. I copied it from a battle against the Fourth Mizukage's guards many years ago when it was used on me. Mina- um, Yondaime-sama theorized that it was a watered down version of the Second Mizkuage's water and oil clone technique. No pun intended. Anyway, it multiplies the water supply in someone's own body. The idea is to kill them through any number of side effects this causes- blood loss, drowning, etc."

"But… Iruka-sensei was alive. I don't understand," Naruto said slowly, frowning.

"Um… ahem… well…" Tenzou coughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, looking down at his knees. He opened his mouth to continue, then shook his head and shivered.

Kakashi turned to Tenzou in confusion, raising his eyebrows. "What is it?"

The wood user coughed again, then cleared his throat and said, "I… may know how he survived. It's just… he knew you and I were friends and that water was one of my primary elements, and he had a few questions to ask me… jutsu to try out on me…" He smiled weakly and stared very hard at the floor, as if he could just melt down into it and disappear.

Kakahsi sat up straighter, eye going wide was he clenched the blanket in his fists. "Tenzou… what the _hell_ are you talking about."

"It was nothing! I mean… he told me he was able to consistently almost kill animals as big as a deer before he would cancel the jutsu and he said that you talked about me like I was really good, and if I would mind being a human test target for him? He wanted to see if it would affect me less because I was a water user. I could use the training, too, so I said yes, and-"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?!"

Tenzou actually flinched at the venom in Kakashi's voice and slunk down further into the chair. He looked like he wanted to just sink down into the floor and never show himself again. "I didn't know how strong of a jutsu it was; I thought it was just a little training! I didn't see any reason _to_ tell you, Senpai, and then when he told me about the technique I asked him about it and he said he was training for the jounin exam, and it was going to be a surprise for you, so could I please not say anything, and so I-"

"Iruka never _took_ the jounin exam! What, when _years_ went by and he was never promoted, did you just assume he was still training for it-"

"I'm really sorry, Senpai!" Tenzou positively withered in his seat. "I just forgot about it! It wasn't like I intentionally kept this from you-"

"Both of you, stop it!"

Kakashi, still shaking with rage, and Tenzou, his eyes downcast and form slumped over to look as small as possible, both looked to Naruto in surprise, his voice stopping their argument. The blond stepped forward and pointed angrily at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, stop yelling at Yamato-taichou! Why are you so mad at him? It's not like he's the one who hurt Iruka-sensei!"

Naruto's words stopped him in his tracks. The blond was right. Tenzou hadn't done a thing to hurt Iruka… he had just helped him train.

Hidan was the one who had hurt him.

Had Kakashi ever believed Iruka would take the jutsu from him and practice with it himself? No. But that didn't mean the chuunin wasn't fully in his rights to do so.

Why hadn't Iruka told him, though?

_Well, look at how you're reacting. _

Kakashi swallowed and looked down. He was reacting like an idiot. Like Iruka wasn't strong enough to learn and master such a dangerous jutsu… like it was dangerous for him to try.

But Iruka was a fully capable ninja. After all, Kakashi had gone to _him_ for help when he couldn't master a jutsu, seeking his advice on water manipulation.

Kakashi sighed quietly. No, he wasn't really mad at Tenzou and he couldn't be mad at himself, either. He had made it possible for Iruka to learn the jutsu, but it was Hidan who had nearly killed him. He was the bastard responsible.

"Sorry, Tenzou," he muttered, then gritted his teeth and waved his hand at him without looking up. "Um… what was it you were saying… about how you know how Iruka lived?"

Tenzo still looked like a nervous child, slumped down his seat and speaking cautiously like he was afraid one wrong word would cause another outburst. "Oh. That. Well, um… Iruka asked me to try and resist the jutsu when he used it. We learned that my Chakra could absorb some minute traces of the water. If I tried as hard as I could, then I could render the jutsu worthless. I wasn't good enough to only use water Chakra and not also earth on such a minute scale, but we both guessed it was my water Chakra that did all the work. I'd bet Iruka did something like that."

Sakura nodded slowly in comprehension while Kakashi just stared at his lap. "Yes, that would make sense… it would certainly explain why Hidan was affected worse than he was. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou. This has been really helpful. I'll go take a look Iruka-sensei now, see if I can do anything to speed his recovery now that I know more about the jutsu that was used."

"I'll come with."

Sakura looked sadly at her sensei. His fists were clenched by his sides and his eye was downcast, expression torn and pained. "Kakashi-sensei, you really need to stay in bed-"

"Let me rephrase. I'm coming with you."

Sakura sighed. Naruto nudged her in the side and nodded eagerly at Kakashi, as if to say, 'aww, come on, Sakura-chan, please let him,' and, with another shake of her head, she gave in.

* * *

Down the hall from Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai were talking in their own hospital room, sitting beside each other as they waited for their teams to track them down. Though, admittedly, both were glad for these few minutes of alone time.

Asuma's arm had finally received the surgery it should have seen over a month ago. Ino's suspicions had been right; he would never be able to use techniques or seals again. The surgery had repaired what parts of the muscle it could, but the damage had already been done. He was still a jounin, and a jounin without an arm was still a deadly one, but he would no longer be taking missions. Asuma had gone down on the roster of shinobi to be called in an emergency and that was that.

"I think I might teach now," he mused aloud, tugging absentmindedly at the bandages around his upper arm. Kurenai slapped half-heartedly at his hand and he smiled in response. "I mean, like Iruka-sensei does; full time, at the Academy."

"Are you serious?"

He shrugged. "I would lose my mind, just sitting around and doing nothing. And working as a civilian, Kurenai? That'd be even worse."

Kurenai smiled at him and tucked her legs under herself, leaning against his good arm. Her hair swept over his shoulder and he shifted so his arm was around her slim frame, fingers playing with her curls. "Yeah, I don't think I can picture you doing anything but this. Hmm… if you do that, then I just might, too. Teach pre-genins."

Asuma's eyes widened in surprise. "Are _you_ serious?"

"Asuma, you know as well as I do that I didn't chose this life. My father signed me up at the Academy and when they learned I had a talent for genjutsu, they pushed me forward because of it. Especially with all the Uchiha gone, and Kakashi not caring enough to give a damn about his eye's illusionary abilities, I'm the village's best genjutsu user. I couldn't just retire." She waved her hand to emphasize her point before sighing again. "But, I'm thirty. And I don't think the village can begrudge me wanting to teach instead of kill, could it?"

"Not after what we've done for it," he murmured.

It was silent for a while, Asuma simply tracing a finger through Kurenai's hair and staring off into the distance. Kurenai let him, and her hand slowly migrated to rest on top of her abdomen. She sighed again, and Asuma noticed this before his features tightened in anger.

Kurenai felt him shift unhappily and quickly dropped her hand to her side to look up at him with a false, bright smile that was painful to look at it. "Well, Asuma. With the two of us working with tiny children for a living now, we're going to be great parents."

Asuma's eyes widened. "…You mean…?"

"…Our baby isn't coming back. But that doesn't mean we can't try again."

Asuma swallowed the lump in his throat and moved his hand over to clasp her smaller one in a gesture of silent comfort.

Kurenai had been two months pregnant when they had left for the Akatsuki. Asuma didn't know exactly when or how, but when they had escaped underground, it had only taken the woman a cursory scan of herself to find that the tiny little Chakra signature within her was no more.

For her to suggest that they try again, so soon…

Well, Asuma couldn't deny that the idea had been hovering at the back of his mind, but he hadn't been planning on voicing it. After all, he had lost his child, too, but Kurenai had lost something growing inside of her, something she had felt that was gone before he could even see it. Her loss was unquestionably greater.

But Kurenai had brought it up herself, and she thought they were ready to try again, who was he to say no?

The door suddenly burst open, and both Asuma and Kurenai turned to see Kiba standing in the doorway, the rest of his team and all of Team Ten clustered behind him. Kiba's eyes widened at the sight of them before he covered his face and cowered with a moan. "Ewwwwww! Kurenai-sensei!"

Kurenai chuckled but pulled away from Asuma to go to her own bed. Ino, from where she was craning her head over the Inuzuka's shoulder, elbowed the teen in the side and pushed him forward. "You can look now. No more PDA."

Kiba peeked out from behind his hands before scampering into the room with a sigh of relief. Kurenai laughed again. "Kiba, you already knew we were involved. What's the-"

"Ew, stop talking like that! La la la, I can't hear you, I can't hear youuuuu!"

Kurenai's eyes widened when her student clasped his hands over his ears and Ino rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry for him. Typical boys."

Kiba glared at her. "I can't help myself! I mean, I know that they're _involved _but I don't want to see it! I don't want to _see_ it out here, see them being all mushy like a couple; Kurenai-sensei, please don't do that again!"

"It doesn't seem to bother your other teammates very much," Asuma teased, and Kiba rolled his eyes again.

"That's because _nothing_ bothers Shino, and you know what, I bet it _does_ bother Hinata and she's just too shy to say anything! Right, Hinata?!"

The Hyuuga's face flamed red and she started stuttering and stammering, and Ino had to grab her by the shoulders when she started to sway and forced her down into a chair. "Kiba, be quiet. Shino, why don't you ever do anything to control him, anyway?"

"Because those traits that may seem so annoying in situations such as these are invaluable in battle."

Kiba grinned proudly before turning to the two jounin sensei and stretching slightly. "So, what's up with you two? Unless it's mushy romance stuff; then I don't want to know."

Asuma chuckled. "Then I guess you don't want to know."

Mostly to stop Kiba from having another outburst, Kurenai spoke up quickly as she gestured at the two teams. "You guys are certainly looking better. Hinata, Chouji- you were healed?"

They both nodded, the Akimichi sticking one of his bandaged hands into his ever present bag of chips. "Yeah, the medics finished what Ino started," he said around a mouthful.

"I won't be able to train for a while, though… sorry, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata added on, looking down in apology.

Kurenai and Asuma glanced at each other, then shrugged. "I guess we should tell them," the Sarutobi said quietly, and she nodded.

"Huh?" Chouji asked, and Asuma paused before focusing on his team and answering him.

"Ino was right in the field. I won't be able to form seals again."

Chouji frowned, still munching. "So how are you going to be a ninja, Asuma-sensei? Won't it be pretty hard to do missions and stuff without any techniques?"

Asuma just watched him without answering, waiting for him to get it, but it was Shikamaru who nudged his teammate and shook his head. "He's not going to, Chouji. He's telling us he's retiring."

"What? Come on, Asuma-sensei can't retire. Right, Sensei?"

"Shikamaru's right, Chouji."

The Akimichi started, then opened his mouth to protest before he shut it again and swallowed. He abruptly buried his head in his bag of chips, shoveling the food into his mouth and trying to hide his expression. Asuma smiled slightly at his reaction before looking back at his other students.

Shikamaru leaned back against the wall and interlocked his fingers behind his head, nudging Chouji's hip with his for comfort. "Asuma-sensei, I've got to tell you, can't see you sitting around and playing shogi all day. Isn't that what retired ninja do? You'll go stir crazy."

"I would. That's why I'm not."

"If you say you're going to become a desk jockey, I think I'll check you for a concussion, Asuma-sensei."

Kurenai chuckled while Asuma smiled slightly. "No, Ino, I'm not. I decided to apply for a job at the Academy."

Ino stared while Chouji emerged from his chips, wide-eyed, and Shikamaru blinked in surprise. "You, Sensei?" Ino questioned, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "_You_, and all those little annoying kids?"

"Why do you seem so surprised? I'm good with kids, aren't I?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

Kurenai cleared her throat. "Don't worry. If Asuma needs help, I'll be there with him. If he messes something up, I'll be able to fix it."

"Where is all this sudden lack in confidence in me coming from?"

Kiba stared in surprise while Hinata and Shino both made small exclamations of disbelief, turning to look at their sensei in shock. "Kurenai-sensei?" Shino questioned. "You're not injured too, are you?"

"No, Shino."

"Then why?"

The woman rested her hand on her abdomen and glanced over at Asuma, then smiled faintly, tracing circles over her shirt. "Being a ninja was never my dream," she confessed. "I don't know how to do anything else, though, but I love kids and I love teaching. And if Asuma's doing it, too… why not?"

"Huh," Shikamaru remarked, sticking his hands in his pocket. "So, you guys are going to be Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei full time now? I like it. Suits you."

Ino nodded in agreement. "I think so, too. I'm you you two will be great at it."

Kiba nodded as well, then shuddered. "Me, too- but just make sure your idea doesn't catch on to Kakashi or Gai! Especially Gai. Can you imagine, that man, teaching the village's youth?! We'd be doomed to a future of green spandex and… god, I don't want to picture it."

Asuma laughed. "Don't worry. To be a teacher, you have to be willing to sit still for hours at a time- can you imagine Gai doing that?"

"Iruka-sensei never did that, though," Chouji interrupted. "He was always chasing Naruto around."

"Okay, aside from dealing with the troublemaker, he'd have to sit still, Chouji." Kurenai smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry. I think the village's youth are safe from him yet."

Kiba chuckled, then started, as if he had just realized something. "Yeah, that's all well and good for them- but what about us? If you're busy playing sensei to all those kids, then what about us? Who's going to be _our_ sensei?"

Kurenai blinked, then softened and watched him kindly, allowing herself to smile at him. "Kiba… you know that the moment you became a chuunin, I was technically no longer your sensei."

Kiba frowned. "But you've alway been our sensei… a promotion didn't change anything."

"Just like us changing jobs won't change anything," Asuma pointed out.

Kurenai nodded. "He's right. You know, I may even cite you three as references on the application- my very first students turned out pretty good."

"Mine too."

The six former students all reacted with varying degrees of embarrassment and pride, everything from Hinata blushing bright red and Kiba giving an awkward chuckle and standing up straighter. Asuma and Kurenai both nodded satisfactorily and glanced at each other happily before turning back to their students. "You guys will be fine," Kurenai said firmly, and Asuma grinned.

"Definitely. After all, any teams that could hold their own against the Akatsuki will certainly be fine by themselves."

Asuma and Kurenai both smiled at their teams, and the former students glanced around at each other before smiling back.


	25. Chapter 25

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When Iruka woke, he was so uncomfortable he wanted to go straight back to sleep.

His attention was first and immediately drawn to the unspeakably awkward device jammed down his throat. He almost wanted to gag but lacked the energy to even do that; it was cold and hard and plastic, strapped across his face and making it impossible to breathe. He tried to raise a hand to touch it, but he was so, so tired…

Nothing hurt, oddly enough. He felt as if he were floating, his limbs all too limp and distant to bother moving; they felt like lumps of lead barely attached to his body but it didn't hurt at all. He felt vaguely ill, and his head was heavy.

A strikingly familiar scent invaded his nostrils. Sharp and clear, one that made his stomach turn and twist in anxiety. Antiseptic… sterile…

The hospital.

The realization made him relax ever so slightly. No matter how much he hated the hospital, if he was in one, he was safe. Probably. He could go back to sleep. Everything would be fine. Most likely.

Iruka began to allow himself to fall back into sleep once again.

Then he became distinctly aware of the fact that someone was holding his hand.

His eyes flew open in shock.

It was a peculiar hand. It was larger than Naruto's, and a bit cooler than he would've expected from the blond. But who else would be sitting here by his bedside?

It wasn't safe anymore. All vestiges of exhaustion were now gone, never to return, and he mustered what little strength he had and struggled to turn his head to the side. It took so much strength it was ridiculous, and the exertion nearly knocked him out- but… but… but…

_Kakashi._

It wasn't true. It just wasn't.

But that was Kakashi.

Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi.

His headband was absent, so his silver hair hung freely about his head in disheveled spikes, shielding his mismatched eyes. The scarred red eye was shut and his one grey eye was dull and tired, half-lidded; he seemed near sleep. His trademark mask was present, the navy blue cloth pulled up to his nose and hiding the rest of his face from view. Instead of his usual jounin uniform, the man wore a pale blue set of hospital scrubs, and he was simply covered from head to foot in bandages and casts.

But he was Kakashi, and he was alive.

Iruka started to shake. From terror, from relief, from amazement- from sheer emotion. He just started to shake.

Kakashi must have felt the hand in his tremble, because that silver head raised and when the man saw that he was awake, his grey eye widened in amazement. "Iruka," he whispered, and his voice cracked.

Iruka struggled to clear his throat to try and talk, but ended up in a fit of silent, agonizing coughs. His vision quickly became obscured by black spots and then he felt a gentle hand on his head, stroking through his hair with such tenderness he almost wanted to cry. No one was allowed to touch him like that, no one but Kakashi. No one…

_No one…_

But…

"Relax. Don't try to talk right now. You got hurt in the fight with the Akatsuki. Silly, silly sensei." The hand in his hair ran lightly through the strands and he heard his voice break at the end, and Iruka's struggled to clear his vision so he could see Kakashi. "The medics stuck that thing in you to help you breathe. It'll be gone soon. I know it's uncomfortable, sorry… just try and bear with it for now."

Iruka stared at him. Was it really… could it actually be…

Kakashi chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. The motion was so _Kakashi_, so completely _Kakashi_ he wanted to sob. "Um… I know I've got a ton of explaining to do, but I think it'll go better when you can talk. So, for now… just try and rest. I'm not going anywhere, and we're both safe now. Everything's okay."

Iruka just stared. Could this be real? Could Kakashi actually be sitting there next to his bed?

Kakashi and Gai… Raidou had said so. He had said so, said that the decimated Akatsuki wouldn't remain behind to defend an expendable base against such a large team if Kakashi and Gai weren't still being held prisoner there. But Iruka hadn't dared to believe it until now.

No. He could not believe it, not even after all the proof. No. No, not again. Iruka didn't want to hurt anymore than he already was. He didn't want to face the idea that Kakashi really was here, lie in Kakashi's arms again, then have the man vanish and die again like the apparition or impostor that he was.

He wouldn't be able to take it.

Iruka closed his eyes tightly and would've turned his head away if he'd had the strength. He tried to tug his hand out of Kakashi's, refusing to entertain any notion that this was real, and the man must have felt his pathetic attempts because a few long, horrible moments later, his hand disappeared.

"…I can understand that you're angry with me. No… wait… you're not angry at me? Oh, god- you don't believe it's me, do you?"

Iruka didn't really have any way to answer, but his expression must have shifted in some way because he heard Kakashi move uncomfortably in his seat, then sigh in resignation.

"I can't expect anything else. But I swear it, this is really me. I got myself worked over again like you always told me to stop doing… I- I- it's me, okay? I promise."

Kakashi's earnest voice tore at his heart. He didn't want to hurt again but damn it, he sounded like Kakashi, he looked like Kakashi-

But Kakashi. Was. Dead.

"P-please look at me, Iruka. Please, Ruru. I can't stand it when you're this upset."

Ruru? No one knew that.

No, no one had the right to _call him that_ but Kakashi. The Akatsuki or whatever sick bastard was doing this could have found out that name through any countless number of ways. The name just made him feel angrier and he felt the urge to scream.

"Please, Ruru…"

But the way he said it, the way that name sounded in his mouth… so warm and tender and caring but it just couldn't be…

"Please…"

The gentle hand started up its stroking again, and he found himself leaning into the touch, seeking the comfort that only human contact could bring. It ran slowly through his limp hair, easing him to open his eyes.

Kakashi smiled weakly, eye curving up above his mask into a happy arc and that was it; Iruka couldn't hold his composure anymore. Tears overflowed and spilled down his cheeks as Kakashi continued lightly stroking his hair, playing with the strands and running them between his fingers, trademark smile still in place. "This is really me. I'm so sorry, Iruka. I wish I could give you some kind of proof but…" The man spread his one good hand out innocently, then abruptly raised it to yank down his mask. The cloth yielded a flawless pale face with only one new scar to show for their long weeks apart, a faint silver line crisscrossing the one that arced down his Sharingan, his crooked nose, his usually blinding smile now weak and pained. "It's me. And you're home. …We're both home. Do you understand me? You did it, Iruka. You and others, you did just what we wanted you to do and you saved us."

Iruka's eyes widened when he saw a single glistening tear trail down Kakashi's cheek, and the hand holding his tightened.

In that moment, Iruka did not care if this man was the real Kakashi or not. He did not care if he was a hallucination, he did not care if it was a man in a henge, he did not care if he had lost against the Akatsuki and this was their way of torturing him, he did not care if he had lost his mind.

He did not care.

If this was an illusion by the Akatsuki, and he believed it, it would hurt all the more when it ended and Kakashi was really dead. But here and now, he was with his Kakashi, his Kashi, and he didn't care if it was really him or just some impostor; he just wanted Kakashi back.

He wanted to ask- or beg, what dignity did he have left- Kakashi to lie down with him and wrap his arms around him and never let him go, but he couldn't talk. He was forced to just gaze over at the man imploringly, and when he blinked, his vision became abruptly obscured once again. It wasn't until he felt warm liquid on his cheek that he realized he was crying.

That cool, comforting hand paused in his hair for a split second. Iruka blinked frantically, trying to get rid of those troublesome tears stopping him from seeing Kakashi. The hand started up with its stroking again, then abruptly vanished.

_No! No! Come back! _

The illusion couldn't be broken yet. He wanted more time; he needed more time with him. He needed more time with Kakashi why was the illusion gone already where was he _Kakashi_-

"Iruka! Iruka, look at me!"

The voice was like balm to a wound. His panic calmed and he hadn't realized he was shaking until now that he'd stopped, because Kakashi was back again.

He opened his eyes, now clear of tears, to see Kakashi staring at him in concern, grey eye disguising worry. When Iruka met his gaze, the fear slowly drained away from Kakashi's unmasked face and he slumped slightly in relief. "S-sorry… I- I saw you sh-shaking and I thought… never mind. Hey, I know that look. Aww… was my Ruru scared that I was gone?" Kakashi gave him a teasing grin, but it was weak, his voice was even weaker, and his lover's pain shone through the facade.

Kakashi paused, and then Iruka found himself with an armful of strong, warm, _alive_ jounin. Kakashi leaned down onto his prone form, good arm snaking under the breathing tube and around his neck, head buried into his shoulder. Iruka froze for a brief moment, then just leaned his head against Kakashi's and inhaled.

It didn't smell like him. Kakashi smelled like outdoors… outdoors, and coconut-scented shampoo. This creature smelled purely of antiseptic and sterile nothing and hospitals.

But this creature also looked and acted like Kakashi and was in his arms, hugging him, nuzzling him, and that was all Iruka could ask for.

Another tear dropped down his cheek and Kakashi hugged him even tighter in response. "Shh. Shh. It's okay. Don't worry, I'm never going anywhere ever again. I- I promise."

Iruka wanted so badly to be able to talk. He wanted _so badly_ to be able to say Kakashi's name, say he loved him, to be strong enough to hug him back.

But he just lay there, silent and unmoving, Kakashi's limp form on top of his. The man continued to murmur in his ear, soft and comforting, almost soothing if not for the fact that his voice was trembling and broken. "I promise, Ruru. Never again. I'll never leave again. Not for a mission, not for anything. I swear. I- god, I know, I know I've hurt you so much, but please, please, I'm so sorry. I…"

This thing even talked like his Kashi. It talked in promises and apologies when it was upset and scared, promises that he could never fulfill and apologies for things that weren't his fault. He felt Kakashi shake against him and tears that weren't his own fall onto his neck and shoulder. "I…"

Iruka managed to lift his hand up far enough to touch his lover's side, and he just let it rest there, feeling it rise up and down with each hitched breath and he was just so _warm_, through countless bandages and his shirt Iruka could still feel his skin and it was _warm_.

Warm was good. Warm meant alive.

"I love you."

Iruka's chest heaved with a silent, weak sob.

_I love you too. _

He wanted nothing more than to say the words back, but for now, he would have to settle to feeling Kakashi's pulse, feeling the man in his arms, feeling him alive once again.

He felt sleep hovering at the edge of his consciousness, enticing and irresistable. He fought the urge to close his eyes, though, trying to focus, because he knew that if he closed his eyes, then he would fall asleep. And if he fell asleep, then when he woke up…

Kakashi must have felt him tense up, because the arm around him briefly tightened, and he murmured into his ear, "It's okay. Go back to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up. This will all still be here."

He wanted to believe him...

"I promise, Ruru."

Kakashi never broke his promises.

It was a long while later when Kakashi finally leaned back in his chair, and he did so because of the approaching Chakra signature, not because Iruka was fast asleep once again. He settled for keeping their hands entwined, Iruka's pulse beating slow and steady beneath his thumb, the feel of it almost like a lullaby.

He had the door creak as it opened and didn't bother to raise his head. The visitor paused, then cleared her throat and spoke up. "You're really supposed to be in your own room- in your own bed- Kakashi-sensei."

"Maa… I heard that a cute dolphin was in distress and couldn't just do nothing. I had to investigate."

Sakura smiled weakly and didn't order him back to his room, as she might have once done. His old, ludicrous excuses made something thrill inside her at a return to normality, and besides, he had been through enough for this village. He deserved to have this time with his lover.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and walked slowly to stand beside his chair. "…How is he?"

Kakashi gave a bland shrug. "He woke up. ...As well as could be expected."

"That's good. He'll probably be able to breathe on his own tomorrow." Sakura looked between her two sensei and shivered. She couldn't believe that her old Academy sensei had done what he had. Her memories of the kind-hearted chuunin just simply did not mix with those of the man she had found collapsed on the cave floor next to Hidan, the water in his mouth overflowing and spilling down his jaw, his skin a poisonous looking blue from lack of oxygen, limbs trembling as he descend into hypoxia. That man was a wounded shinobi, not the teacher she remembered who had once chucked an eraser at Naruto to get him to quiet down, whose scar was the only sign that showed he had ever even seem combat.

She had almost forgotten that Iruka was a chuunin, and that one did not get to be a chuunin by being a desk jockey.

Kakashi sighed quietly. "Iruka's had the skill to become a jounin for years," he said absentmindedly, almost to himself. "Tsunade even asked him to take the exam once- but no jounin is allowed to just stay in the village and teach at the Academy. He told her no, thank you, he was quite happy where he was, and he went down on the roster of ninja qualified to do A-ranks in an emergency and that was that. I never knew that he trained in jounin-level techniques anyway… people always underestimate him, you know. Assume he's a weak shinobi promoted just because they needed another teacher and that he really can't fight worth a damn. Being bested my Mizuki only fueled the rumors. No one cared that he suddenly had to fight his best friend, no one cared that he had to protect Naruto, too- no, no, they just saw that the teacher was injured and protected by just a little pre-genin, the fox brat, no less. Iruka never cared about what people said, but he felt guilty nevertheless and trained harder. I helped him just like he helped me, but- if I had known that he was taking the techniques he saw me do and doing them himself… I can't say that I wouldn't have done it, but I would've made damn sure he never got himself hurt like this."

Sakura honestly did not know what to say. She had never thought about Iruka and Kakashi together beyond the image of her two sensei holding hands in public, maybe Kakashi glomping Iruka like the pervert he was and Iruka's face going red- but as to their actual relationship, she had never given it any thought. She had never known that they helped each other train like that, or that Kakashi had been there when Mizuki had attacked him- she had never thought of it before.

Her fists clenched in a sudden rise of anger, and she had to swallow the lump in her throat to regain her composure before she could even think about talking. "Um… Kakashi-sensei… I…" She wanted to find some way to put all of the hurt of these past few miserable weeks into words, to tell him how glad she was he was alive again and tell him how much they'd missed him and loved him and how glad they were that he was safe- but her heart caught in her throat and she couldn't stare at Kakashi holding Iruka's hand and think about just how unfair it was, how completely unfair that he'd given his whole life to the village and it wasn't enough, he still had to give more, how could that be right? What Kakashi and the others had been through had her questioning everything her lifestyle stood for.

"Yes, Sakura?"

She blinked, then cleared her throat and abruptly changed tactics, chickening out of her previous one. "I just thought you should know that Jiraiya-sama's given you and the other five Danzou tried to kill three months off of duty, once you've recovered fully. He's also still in negotiations with the council, but he's made it perfectly clear that charges are not to be filed against any of us who left the village to find you."

"I could tell."

"What?"

Kakashi shrugged his good shoulder. "You're wearing your hitai-ate and are working in this hospital. If you were still classified as a missing nin, neither of those would be the case. Iruka also isn't restrained, which he would be if charges were being filed."

Sakura blushed a little and shifted her weight. "Well… yes. Jiraiya-sama and Shishou… they're both refusing to budge. Tsunade-sama said she would defect herself if they dared press charges. A previous Kage defecting from her own village… missions would go down, the economy would crash- they weren't going to risk it. They're still trying to hand out punishments, but Jiraiya-sama isn't having it."

Kakashi gave another tired nod, but he didn't seem to really be listening. His head was drooping forward, eye half-lidded, and he seemed to be near sleep himself. Sakura hesitated, then reached out to touch him on the shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei, you're exhausted. You need to heal yourself; come on, let me help you back to your room."

"I'll stay."

Sakura grimaced. "You'll only aggravate your injuries by sleeping in a chair. You need to be in a bed."

"If by that, you mean those uncomfortable rocks that pass for beds in this hospital, then I don't see how that would be any better than just sleeping right here."

"Don't be difficult, Sensei! Or I'll have _you_ strapped down to your bed."

"Maa, you're no fun, Sakura-chan." Still, Kakashi allowed Sakura to help him upright, though he freed himself from her hand the moment he was sure he wasn't about to fall flat on his face. The medic led him out of Iruka's room, affording him once last glance at the slumbering chuunin before the door slid shut behind them.

The woman walked slowly down the hall by his side, watching him with a concerned eye. "…I'll get you transferred to his room. We're short of beds in the ICU at the moment but as long as you two stay quiet, your secret will be safe." The two shared a conspiratorial smile and Kakashi chuckled sleepily.

"There it is. I knew there was a reason you were my favorite student, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled warmly back, but her reply was choked off by the sudden emotion sticking in her throat and welling in her eyes. She had missed this. Kakashi's death had split what was left of Team Seven into something that had been irreparable, taking one third of what she wanted most and moving it somewhere so far away she couldn't reach it. The fact that he was alive made her heart feel strange and she didn't have words to put to her emotions.

"Hey, Sakura?'

She furiously blinked back a lingering tear and glanced over to him curiously.

"I really missed you too."

The kunoichi stared, then swallowed the emotion gathering in her throat and wrapped her arm around his side. No matter how much she grew, he was always taller than her, and her head barely came up to his shoulder. She leaned it against him and smiled.


	26. Chapter 26

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* * *

"Oh yes I am!"

"Genma…"

"Yes, I _am_," the senbon sucker said firmly, pointing at his lover. "I am going to get you home just to baby you, Rai."

"Genma, you're still recovering," Raidou said sharply. "You're the one who needs rest."

Genma rolled his eyes. "I wasn't the one who was tossed around by that fucking fish head."

"You were seriously injured!"

Waving him off, Genma leaned back against the wall next to the head of Raidou's bed and reached down to trace a hand through his lover's short hair. "No, no. You, my dear, were nearly eaten alive by a furry, fanged sword. You are going to be babied."

Raidou groaned aloud and buried his head in his hands. "'My dear'? You can not be serious, Genma. And I wasn't nearly eaten alive by anything. His weird sword just bit me once."

"Come on. You know you _love _it when I baby you."

With another groan, Raidou leaned back to reach up and tug Genma's hand out of his hair and into his lap, idly tracing patterns into his palm. "Correction. _You_ love it when you baby me. I can not stand it."

"Rai…" Genma whined, and the scarred jounin glared up at his lover.

"I don't care what you say, I will not let you bust me out of here just so _you_ can do your sick definition of 'babying'."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Raidou rolled his eyes. "You know exactly what it means. You just taunt me and tempt me and torture me- like that time when you thought it would be funny to 'nurse me back to health' in a nurse's uniform?!"

"I thought you loved that!"

Raidou scowled. "I _did_, until Hokage-sama saw you doing that. Do you know how much the other guards ragged onto me about it?"

"I don't see how that is my fault!"

The scarred jounin just sighed and looked away, then gave a muffled groan when Genma abruptly pounced on him, the honey haired shinobi curling up against his side and wrapping a possessive arm around his neck. "Mmmph- ow! Genma!"

"You're just saying that, it doesn't really hurt."

Raidou grimaced- it really kind of did hurt- but he would let Genma sit on top of him if it meant Genma would also sit on his lap and hug him. _Oh, who the hell am I kidding. I'm whipped._

Genma's silly, lighthearted embrace slowly shifted to a more serious one, the senbon sucker resting his chin on Raidou's shoulder and wrapping his arms a bit more securely around his lover. Raidou sensed the change in atmosphere and shifted, giving the man a bit more room on the bed as well as making it easier for Raidou to hug him back. "R… Rai… I'm sorry about everything that happened."

"Don't be. You did what you could to survive; that's all I could ask."

Genma paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was low, almost an inaudible. "When Sasori poisoned me, and I thought I was going to die… I just thought of how I'd be abandoning the others against the Akatsuki. Later, after we had escaped, Kurenai managed to tell me through a genjutsu about what had happened, and then, I got scared. I got scared that I would die without seeing you again, and I… I really wanted to see you at least one more time so I could…"

Raidou turned his head and met Genma's lips with his own, swallowing up his now hesitant mumblings. They kissed for a moment, a kiss that tasted of pain and regret on both sides, but when Raidou pulled back first, it was with a smile. "I love you, too."

Genma smiled against Raidou's lips and was about to kiss him again when the hospital room door opened.

"Oh, Raidou… mmm… yes, that feels so good…"

Riaodu shoved the man back with far more force than necessary and scowled at him. "Shut up, you damn pervert. Guys, don't let him scare you off; we weren't doing anything."

"Mmmhmm, sure you weren't," Anko chuckled, waggling a suggestive eyebrow at the pair while Kakashi gave a disinterested sigh.

"I don't believe you, and the fact that Genma's tongue was down your throat is not helping."

Raidou groaned and leaned back against the propped up pillow, raising his hands in surrender. "Honestly, why do I bother?"

"So, Konoha's resident pervert and Konoha's resident sex fiend, what brings you here?" Genma asked, and Anko grinned eagerly.

"Ten bucks says I'm the sex fiend."

Kakashi rolled his eye. "Wasn't planning on contesting that. And, to answer your question, visiting our friends. Seems there are too many of them in the hospital to visit, though."

"That, and avoiding Jiraiya," Anko added. "Kakashi is, at any rate. He's avoiding responsibility like it's the plague, he is. I just decided to join in for the fun."

Raidou frowned. "Jiraiya-sama? Why's he looking for Kakashi?"

The Copy Ninja ran a tired hand through his mess of a hairstyle and and groaned, clearly refusing to answer, but Anko did for him.

"Because," she said, cheerfully nudging Kakashi in the side and completely ignoring his grimace of pain, "Jiraiya still can't form seals with that bad hand of his, even with Tsunade's help, and the Slug Princess is just plain refusing to step back into her role as Hokage. Seems like Shizune's death really did her in."

Genma winced at the mention of his childhood friend and Raidou, noticing, quickly cleared his throat to draw the attention away from his lover. "That didn't even come remotely close to answering why Jiraiya-sama is after Kakashi here."

"Oh! Right!" Anko exclaimed, nodding eagerly. "That- well, the point is, we can't exactly have a Hokage who can't use ninjutsu, and Jiraiya's using that as an excuse to get out of the job as soon as possible. And Kakashi here is apparently the next choice."

Kakashi groaned. "Yes. Even though I'm still recovering and just spent the last month staying as the honored guest of the Akatsuki. Seriously…"

Anko elbowed him in the ribs so hard he gasped in pain and grinned. "As you can see, our resident Copy Ninja is trying to shirk responsibility, too."

"Aah," Genma said, eager to join in on the fun. "So, I guess it's now Kakashi-sama, huh?"

Kakashi shuddered. "Don't call me that! No one said I was going to accept the job when he offered."

"But you will," Anko prodded. "You always do. Complain up to high heaven about being overworked to your cute dolphin but when you're given another S-rank, you accept without hesitation. ...Oh, good lord. The village will be crushed under the weight of undone paperwork."

"Bit of advice, Kakashi- oops, Kakashi-sama," Genma chuckled, ignoring Kakashi's glare, "you can always shove your work onto Izumo and Kotetsu. They'll be a great help."

"Oh, no you don't! You and Raidou are the Hokage's paper pushers, not those guys! Don't be trying to get out of it now!"

Kakashi groaned loudly and pushed himself off the wall, throwing his hands up into the air. "I'm out. I don't know why I'm only friends with people who like to make fun of me, I swear, I don't know…"

Genma saw Kakashi head out the door and jumped to his feet, hurrying after him. "Yo, Kakashi-sama!" he called, glaring when the man waved him off over his shoulder.

"Screw off."

Genma reached out to catch Kakashi by the elbow, and the unhappy Copy Nin turned around to throw him off.

The senbon-sucker punched him in the face.

Reflexes reduced by Chakra exhaustion and injuries, Kakashi was sent sprawling to the floor in an undignified pile of limbs with a groan. Kakashi shook his head slightly, trying to clear his vision, then shifted onto his back to glare up at the man. "What the fuck, Shiranui?" he spat.

Genma smiled around his senbon and reached down to pull his friend to his feet, then clapped a hand on his shoulder. "That was for your fucked up self-sacrificing attitude. Do it on a mission with me again, I don't care if you're Hokage or not, I'll stick a senbon so far up your ass you won't be able to to stand Iruka ever touching you again."

Kakashi blinked, nonplussed, then just curved his eye up in a tired smile. "I missed your explicit and graphic threats with the Akatsuki, Genma. At least you have the decency to warn me before you do anything, unlike them."

Genma flicked his senbon up with his teeth and grinned. "Always there for you, Kakashi."

"Whenever I need someone well-versed in S-class vulgarity, then I'm glad I can come to you."

The two men reached out to clasp hands which ended up being pulled forward to become a half hug before they separated, and Genma turned around to go back to Raidou's room. "You coming?" he asked, jerking his chin in the direction he was headed.

Kakashi opened his mouth to respond, then stiffened at a very familiar voice drifting over to them from the nurse's station. "…a guy about ye high around here, his hair's a mess and sticks up to about here, one eye, probably with his nose buried in one of my books? Possibly staring at a nurse's ass? _Ow_, why'd you hit me…"

"You know, I'd love to, Genma, but I think I hear the cutest dolphin calling for my help. Ja ne."

Genma grinned after him as the man hurried off down the hallway, lowering his head and pulling on a lab coat abandoned on a couch as he went before swerving around to get behind a metal cart and pushing it. With his scrubs, he blended into the crowd almost immediately and by the time Jiraiya got there, there was no sign of Doctor Hatake except for two nurses already gossiping about the new doctor with a body to die for.

* * *

"I opened the sixth gate, Gai-sensei!"

"Oh, my cute Lee! I knew you could do it!"

Tenten found herself watching for the dozenth time that hour as her two teammates descend into violent sobs, their arms around each other, and still the sight made her smile.

"I never thought I could miss this," she murmured to Neji, who, even blinded, had to be getting the gist of the situation based off the sounds.

Neji nodded slightly and smiled himself. He scratched slightly at the clean bandages wrapped around his head and his powerful eyes and Tenten winced in sympathy. She assumed it had to be pretty bad to blinded temporarily for anyone, but for a Hyuuga, who could see 360 and for miles, it had to be extremely unsettling.

"I used the Front Lotus against the blond artist that made things explode, Gai-sensei!"

"Oh, my cute Lee! So youthful! Your exploits tell of your never-ending youth!"

Tenten smiled weakly when Lee and Gai embraced again and then, with a hand on Neji's elbow, led him forward to Gai's bedside. "Gai-sensei, Neji and I-"

"Oh, my! Tenten and Neji! I have been ignoring you!"

Tenten tried to protest as he burst into tears again and flailed about a bit in concern, but it was far too late for words.

"My cute students! Tell me what you did against the fearsome Akatsuki! Neji! You must explain how you obtained the wounds that show your honor and skill as a shinobi! I am so proud of all three of you! You have all surpassed me in your battles against the Akatsuki!"

"Gai-sensei, you're incredible!"

Tenten stared as the two descended into sobs and hugs again, then glanced over at her blinded friend and pulled towards the door. "You know, I bet if you just take you for your healing session without saying anything, they probably won't miss us-"

"_Neji!_ _Neji_, wait!"

The two both jumped at Lee's sudden exclamation just a split second before their teammate lunged forward to grab the Hyuuga by the wrist. "Neji, where are you going alone? I made a promise that I would escort you everywhere you needed to go until your eyes healed!"

"Lee, I don't need-"

"I promised you that I would do this or I would walk 500 laps around the village on my hands!"

"Lee, that's not necess-"

"Come, Neji, I swear that I will escort you anywhere you must go and that I will not inconvenience you!"

Lee pulled Neji out of the room and Tenten shot an apologetic look at Gai before hurrying after them, exclaiming, "Lee, stop being so rough, he's injured!"

Gai watched his three students fondly as they exited, but the moment that door closed, the window opened, and in climbed a perfectly unharmed Neji. Gai turned to look at him, not really surprised, and nodded in enthusiastic greeting at the clone. "You've been out there for twenty minutes, Neji's clone!"

The clone nodded coolly and shut the window, walking forward and clasping his hands behind his back. "Gai-sensei, the original left me behind because he wanted to talk to you alone, but knew he would be unable to do so because Lee has sworn to follow him wherever he goes. Thus, my purpose."

"Whatever is it do you wish to speak to me about, Neji?"

Neji raised his hand first, gesturing for silence, and activated his Byakugan. After a few moments he let it fade and cleared his throat. "No one is listening in. I just wanted to confirm. Now, Gai-sensei. I don't care what it was that you and Kakashi-san were doing in the forest with Tsunade-sama and Orochimaru. I've heard that both you and Kakashi-san claim to not remember. I seriously doubt that, but whatever happened is none of my business. But you should know that the council has contacted the Hyuuga clan; we have been asked to scan both of you and see if there is any sign of a jutsu that may be causing your, ahem, 'memory loss'. I thought you should be warned so you may know that they are not going to drop the subject."

Gai sighed heavily. "Thank you for informing me, Neji! I will be sure to discuss this with Kakashi so that we may decide on a most youthful course of action!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei. But… that is not all I wanted to say. I also wanted to discuss Lee with you."

Gai's eyes widened to the point of being comical, and the man looked on the verge of weeping again as he desperately exclaimed, "Lee! Is something wrong with my cute Lee? Oh, no! Did the Akatsuki harm his youthful spirit? Neji, please tell me that he is all right!"

The Hyuuga just smiled slightly in response to Gai's urgency and nodded. "Lee is fine, physically. And with your return, I have no reason to believe that he will not be fine mentally…. well, as fine as he ever was. However, I wanted to bring something to your attention. When we believed you died, Gai-sensei, Lee…"

"It is healthy and youthful to mourn the dead, Neji! Such a thing is not to be concerned with!"

Neji sighed. "That actually wasn't the problem. What your death did to him… I have never seen him like that. And it worried me. …Gai-sensei, I know that you are not stupid, even if you are naive. You can surely predict how Lee handled what happened."

Neji watched as the jounin's expression twitched for a moment before regaining a rather blank look, disguising his real thoughts and pain even as he reflected on what his former student was saying. At length, he cleared his throat and looked back at Neji, trying to smile. "Aah, but Lee is very strong and the most youthful person I have ever met! I am sure he recovered from the loss!"

"He didn't. He was rather willing to latch onto the idea that you and the others were alive simply because he never actually believed you were dead in the first place. He claimed it was because you were too strong to ever be killed, and that may have been part of it- but I also think that it was because he didn't want to face the possibility of life without you." Neji paused, then brought his hands together in a seal and leveled his sensei with a flat stare. "You might want to talk to him about that."

When the shadow clone disappeared with a poof, Gai simply stared at the spot where he had sat in disbelief.


	27. Chapter 27

Okay... last chapter. Yes, I know. There WILL be an epilogue, to tie up the billion and one loose ends, but I just have no idea when it will get written. Online wellness is somehow taking up all my time. Can't believe it's required to graduate. So, anyway... I hope you've all enjoyed this story! Thank you to everyone that reviewed!

* * *

Kakashi was waiting by Iruka's side when the Academy teacher finally woke up again.

Iruka's head was turned to the side on the pillow when his eyes slowly fluttered open, and what he saw in his waking moments was so strange he honestly didn't know whether he it was a dream or not.

Kakashi was sitting right there next to him, just as he had when he had last awoken, and the sight of him made something thrill inside of him. He was wearing pale scrubs, again, just like last time, but now he was also wearing a lab coat and a surgical mask that clashed a rather comically with the fact that the lower half of his face was primarily hidden by a bright orange Icha Icha.

The jounin turned a page with one latex-gloved hand and giggled, and the sound made him so happy he could've died right then and there and not regretted a thing.

Iruka cleared his sore throat and winced a bit, but Kakashi dropped his book at the sound and his single grey eye widened in happiness. "Iruka!" he whispered, shutting his book and stowing it away before leaning forward eagerly. "How are you?"

He grinned. "Just fine, Doctor Hatake."

Kakashi's anxious face relaxed into a leer, and he tugged on one of the fingers of his glove, stretching the elastic before letting it snap back to his hand. "You like? I'm actually wearing it because the cutest dolphin is in need of a gorgeous man like myself to help him feel better, but, if you really like it, I think I could keep it on."

"Who is this cute dolphin? I thought I was the only one you called cute. Is there something I need to know about?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and slowly leaned closer to him, moving his good arm over him for balance after tugging down the sheer cloth to bare his lips. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Ruru."

All the desires that Iruka had suffered through when he had first woken up, a furious need to wrap his arms back around Kakashi and hug him and tell him he loved him, they rose to the forefront and he couldn't help himself. Iruka raised his arms around Kakashi's form in an embrace that started off as a kiss and ended with him lying in Kakashi's arms, hugging him tightly. The Copy Ninja's head lowered to rest against his shoulder, silver hair tickling his neck and ear while Iruka strengthened his hold on him and inhaled deeply.

Unlike before, Kakashi smelled just like himself. Unlike before, his grey eye wasn't full of pain and his voice wasn't trembling with the weight of guilt and regret. Unlike before, Kakashi was just as Iruka liked him- joking, smiling, and happy.

If anything was enough to convince him that this, _all_ of this was real, that was it.

Iruka let out a pained breath, releasing all his fear and anxiety with it, and smiled when he felt Kakashi's hand reach up to tangle in his hair. The man had always loved playing with it, even more so when it was down. One morning, Iruka had woken up to a braid and a triumphant Kakashi, and all day his students had wanted to know why his hair was so wavy, even in its ponytail.

Kakashi had gotten him into a lot of trouble that day… he was very good at doing that.

That night, Iruka had returned home fully prepared to rip his boyfriend a new one, but when Kakashi had glomped him as a welcome home and used his new position to shove a bite of food into his mouth, saying that he was trying out a new recipe for dinner and wanted to know how it tasted, all those the things Iruka had been going to say were forgotten.

Now that he thought about it, that had probably been Kakashi's plan all along. He smiled.

When Iruka blinked, his eyes opened to the stinging feeling of tears. But, for the first time since Kakashi had ever _left_ on this accursed mission, they were tears of joy.

Kakashi cleared his throat, beginning to murmur into his ear. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but-

"Love, you don't have to explain anything. All that matters is that you're here now."

Kakashi chuckled slightly, the motion making his chest vibrate, and when his heart sped up, Iruka could feel it as it beat cheerfully against his own chest. "So delightfully cliche and romantic, Ruru. You could have a future writing Icha Icha, you know."

Iruka smiled broadly, shifting a little so Kakashi's form fit more easily next to his own. "That's your dream, isn't it? Me writing porn?"

"Absolutely not. My dream is you writing porn, _just for me_."

Iruka laughed weakly, his relief still an overpowering emotion that made it hard for him to feel or do anything else right now than just lie here with Kakashi. "Kashi, love, you'll be lucky if you get so much as a kiss from me after all that we've been thrown."

"Mmm. Really. I could test your resolve on that, you know."

"I'm sure you could; it won't change a thing."

A moment passed in companionable silence before the jounin spoke again, his voice having lost its playful edge, the mood now somber. "…Iruka, you fought Hidan for me. After that… and what I put you through these past weeks… whatever you want. A personal assistant to do all your grading… a piggy back ride to your class every single day… me in a candy-striper outfit… whatever you want."

The more than slightly perverted sample requests were probably Kakashi's attempt to lighten the mood, but Iruka wasn't having it. The mention of Hidan made it feel like someone had just doused him in a bucket of ice water.

_How would you feel if I told you how Kakashi screamed your name when I took him from behind? _

Iruka gritted his teeth in anger and shook, feeling his blood boil with hate. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see Kakashi's face and forced out a question, feeling his hands open and flex as if they could strangle Hidan's throat in fury. "What happened to him? …Hidan?"

Kakashi stiffened slightly. The hand in Iruka's hair stilled and his breath hitched, and he almost wished he hadn't asked before the jounin replied steadily. "Your jutsu worked. Sai kept a clear head and cut his body up into pieces before transporting him to Konoha. He's with Ibiki."

Normally, the mention of the frightening, certainly sadistic torture specialist made Iruka shiver and back away uncomfortably. But now, the thought of the man that had tortured Kakashi, that had raped Kakashi, being tortured himself…

The thought of this pleased Iruka, and that, in turn, scared him.

Shivering slightly, Iruka wrapped his arms a tad tighter around Kakashi, pulling him snugly and protectively against him. "Good."

"…I wish you hadn't been so reckless, though, Iruka. Why did you go off to fight him alone? You had such a strong team with you… and Hidan is someone you only fight solo if you have a death wish. I know that you're strong, you're capable, but… your only plan was one you _knew_ would almost _kill_ you, at best. Why? Why did you do that? What did Hidan do to make you lose your head and go after him?"

Iruka shook his head, eyes stinging as he began to trace a pattern on Kakashi's shoulder with a shaking finger. "It doesn't matter."

"It does to me." Kakashi pulled back a little so he could see Iruka's face and he lightly caught the one tear on his fingertip, grey eye wide in earnest concern. "Ruru… what…"

Iruka choked back a sob and closed his eyes. "He tried to tempt me, and I was stupid and fell for it, that's all. But it doesn't matter, Kakashi; I'm alive and I got him, that's all that's important."

Kakashi sighed sadly. "No, Iruka. I know you're level-headed in a fight; you can think on your feet and you don't let the enemy get to you. I want to know what Hidan did to change that."

"No… no. I can't tell you that, Kakashi. Ask me something else."

"How can you expect me to leave it alone now, after you've said that?" Iruka felt Kakashi's hand stroke lightly along the side of his face and the chuunin shuddered at his warm touch, trying not to picture what Hidan had once made him. "Ruru, tell me. I have to know what he said to you."

"Why? Why can't you just forget about it?"

"Because whatever it was hurt you, and I have to know what it was so I can make you feel better."

Iruka shook his head, turning to nestle his cheek against Kakashi's palm. "You don't have to 'make me feel better'. I can take care of myself. And, besides, taking out Hidan is all I wanted to do. That makes me feel fine enough."

"Well, then tell me so I can feel better. You're scaring me, Ruru."

Iruka laughed weakly, reaching up to rest his own hand over Kakashi's, tracing the many fine scars over his skin. "S-class missing nin don't scare you. You're telling me I can? Right."

"You can. Remember? You're the one who told me once. You said it's easier for the people we love to scare us, easier for them than Iwakagure or Orochimaru or the Akatsuki. You told me that after I came home a week late from a mission, because you couldn't handle the constant thought that something had happened to me. You were furious I hadn't even tried to contact the village and tell them I was safe, just late, and I didn't understand why I could scare you so much. You said that… that you knew it was stupid, but you wanted to be able to protect me from anything that so much as gave me a paper cut and the thought of me maybe being captured, tortured, killed and you couldn't do anything to help was too much for you to handle."

Iruka remembered it well. He remembered how the days had passed and, with no sign of Kakashi, his terror had risen until he could hardly concentrate in class. Every sound had made him to jump and look to see if it was the Copy Ninja, come home safe and sound. He hadn't been able to think about anything except for Kakashi, his imagination going wild with each horrific possibility of what could be happening to him…

With a jolt, he realized that Kakashi was feeling exactly what he had felt like all those years ago.

Iruka had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could even make an attempt at talking. But he had no choice now; he _had_ to talk.

"Hidan said… he told me how…"

"Yes?"

"He t-told me about how y-you… you… when he would t-torture you, th-th-that you would… 'scream for me'… that h-he… h-he…" Iruka shook his head and buried it against Kakashi's shoulder. It was too horrible to go on.

Kakashi didn't speak for one terrible moment, and then his arms were tight around him and his hand was caught up in his hair. "Shh. Shh. It's okay. You can tell me. I'm fine now. Hidan will learn a lot from Ibiki; he didn't know what he was doing. That wasn't torture-"

"Don't lie to me!" Iruka snapped, abruptly pushing Kakashi away so he could look him in the eye. "Don't lie about this, Kakashi! He was _Akatsuki!_ He was a dammed masochist; you can't tell me he didn't know how to torture! Don't you dare lie to me like I'm fragile and can't take it! You have no _idea_ what you did to me when I thought you _died;_ if I survived that, then I can take knowing what he did to you!"

Iruka didn't realize how badly he was shaking until Kakashi's hand hesitantly came to rest on his shoulder, trying to still him. He blinked as his silver-haired lover slowly tried to comfort him, grey eye watching him carefully as his light touch turned into a caress. "I'm sorry, Iruka-koi," he murmured after a moment, and his expression betrayed just sorry he really was. "You're right. I shouldn't have lied. But it's okay; I'm fine now. What else did he say? You can tell me; I promise that I'm okay now. It's okay, Iruka-koi."

Iruka just shook his head at Kakashi's attempt to be comforting. He shut his eyes tight but the horrible words came flowing from him anyway; the horrible words that he couldn't stop thinking about and that had made him snap."He said when he 'took you from behind' and I just couldn't stop myself." He spat Hidan's words out in disgust and shuddered through a sob. "I wanted to kill him, Kakashi. Me. I never want to kill anyone, but him… when he said that…" Iruka shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Kakashi. If I had just figured out what you wanted from us sooner- if I had-"

"Shh. Stop it, Iruka. None of this was your fault. I'm sorry he told you that; I tried to make it so you wouldn't find out. But what he did doesn't matter; all that does matter is that I'm here and I'm fine and I'm not going to leave again. I promise."

Iruka shut his eyes tight and shuddered, taking Kakashi's hand in his own and shifting his thumb to feel the comforting beat of the jounin's pulse in his wrist. "God, love…"

"Don't think about what he said. Think about me. I love you." Kakashi turned so his lips met his cheek, his tongue lightly moving over Iruka's ticklish flesh. "I'm here now." The soft pair of lips moved closer to Iruka's, a hand moving from draped over his shoulder to rest on the side of his neck. "I'm alive." Kakashi's lips settled over his mouth, tongue pushing against Iruka. The chuunin opened his mouth, granting him access. Kakashi's other hand tangled lightly in his hair as he murmured, "I'm here, I'm alive, and I love you. That's all you think about."

Iruka tried. He let Kakashi kiss him and make the memory of the horrible things Hidan had said disappear, let Kakashi take them and lock them away where they didn't make his heart clench painfully and it couldn't hurt. Iruka felt his tense muscles slowly begin to relax and raised a hand to trace Kakashi's masked cheek, palming it gently.

"I love you," he whispered, opening his eyes to see Kakashi's mismatched eyes boring down into his own, Sharingan shining a sullen red, grey one full of emotion.

Kakashi smiled slightly, eyes curving up along with the corners of his mouth in a grin that made Iruka's heart swell to ten times it size. "Yes," he agreed. "You do. That's all that you have to remember."

Iruka chuckled weakly. "What, aren't you going to say it back?"

"I love you."

They smiled together, and then Kakashi's arm went around him, the silver-haired jounin easing away the last of the pain left behind from his death and Hidan's words. Iruka hugged him back, and for the first time since he had heard the words _Kakashi was killed, _everything was _right_ again.

The tender moment was broken by a high-pitched scream.

"_My eyes! It burns! It buuuuuurns!"_

Iruka jumped, yanking his arms back to rest by his sides while Kakashi pulled away with a jerk. They both turned to look at the door to see a disgusted Naruto standing in it, his hands over his eyes, and Sakura, who looked a little mentally scarred herself from seeing her two teachers kissing.

Kakashi shifted so he was lounging by Iruka's head and pulled his mask up in the same moment. He wrapped his arm around the chuunin's shoulders, helping him sit upright and grinning while Naruto gave another mournful wail, hand still over his eyes. "It's all right, Naruto," he called cheerfully. "Your virgin eyes have been saved."

The blond hesitantly peeked out from behind his hand, and when he saw Iruka and Kakashi were no longer on top of each other, he scampered forward and glared at them both. "I told you, you guys can be happy together if you want, but stop _doing _things like that in front of me! It's freaky!"

"Really?" Kakashi asked mildly. "Then, I suppose it's good you've never looked in our window at night, because that would really make you-"

"Stooooooop iiiiiiiiiiitttt!"

Kakashi laughed as Naruto howled again, his hands now firmly over his ears, while Sakura winced and tried valiantly to keep her expression from changing at the mental images Kakashi was conjuring up. Iruka nudged him and glared. "Stop scaring him!"

Kakashi shrugged. "He's a ninja. If that scares him, then I've certainly failed as his teacher, and it's my duty to get him brave, now, isn't it?"

"Kaka-sensei, don't make me picture _that!_ Gosh, I don't want to think of my two sensei doing anything… anything so… gah! I can't even say it!"

Kakashi smiled at Naruto while Iruka reached out and lightly ruffled the blond's hair. "It's okay, Naruto. Kakashi here is purposefully being rude. Kakashi, apologize."

"Hey, Naruto," Kakashi said with a chuckle, ignoring Iruka completely, "if you can't handle seeing us kiss, then how come you handle Iruka touching you with that hand? With all that places that hand has _been_ and all-"

Naruto gave another squeak of alarm and ducked away from Iruka's hand, now reaching up and rubbing furiously at his own hair. "_Kaka-sensei!_" he yelped, shaking his head back and forth.

Iruka glared pointedly at Kakashi and elbowed him in the side. "You damn pervert! Stop trying to freak him out!"

"But it's _fun!_"

It took a considerable amount of time to coax Naruto into believing that Kakashi wasn't going to say anything else weird before the blond cautiously removed his hands from his ears. He cautiously pulled his hands back before pointing at Kakashi and frowning. "Oi, what's with the get up, Kaka-sensei?"

"Oh, this?" Kakashi tugged innocently on his latex glove, just as he had when Iruka had asked about the outfit, and grinned. "Well, if you must know, Iruka and I were having-"

"If you dare finish that sentence with the word kinky, or any synonym for it, you hentai bastard, you will never _touch_ me with those hands again. You swore on your ninja's honor you would stop this!"

"Now, since when have ninjas had honor?"

Iruka glowered before looking over the Copy Ninja again and frowning. "Come to think of it, why _are_ you wearing that?"

Kakashi shrugged happily and didn't answer, but Sakura pointed an accusing finger at her sensei and stepped forward with a vengeful smile. "You're trying to hide with that, aren't you, Kakashi-sensei? Jiraiya-sama's still looking for you! Shishou told me he was trying to get you to replace him as-"

"Ah, Naruto," Kakashi said rapidly, frantically talking over the pink-haired medic, "aren't you excited to see that Iruka's finally awake?"

"Oh! Yeah, that's right! Iruka-sensei, you're finally up! I've wanted to talk to you all week! You really scared us!" Naruto bounded eagerly up to the bed, all questions about why on earth Kakashi was dressed as a doctor forgotten and trampling all over Sakura's accusatory explanation.

Iruka shrugged apologetically. "Sorry about that. It was just a really dangerous technique that I used."

"Oh, that one?" Naruto exclaimed, clapping his hands together in excitement. ""The jutsu you used against that bastard Hidan- it was so cool! It's even cooler than my Rasengan!"

"Well, it's also very dangerous," Iruka said, shaking his head at his favorite former student. "I nearly killed myself using it. You only got a broken arm from the fight, it seems."

Naruto looked down at the cast encasing his left arm, then practically squealed in excitement, shaking his head. "No, no! None of the Akatsuki did this to me! I did it!"

Iruka's eyes widened in horror while Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, breaking your own arm isn't something to be proud of-"

"No, you don't get it, Kaka-sensei! Remember how you were helping me come up with my own original move? I finally did it! During the fight with the Akatsuki! _Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken! _It is _awesome!_ Even better than the technique Iruka-sensei used! So much cooler than your Chidori and Yamato-taichou's Mokuton- even that stupid shark head didn't know what hit him! I can't wait to show it to you guys; you're going to love it-"

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, grabbing him by the sleeve and whirling the boy around to face her. She glared into his eyes and snapped, 'Shishou _told_ you that you can't use it again! It's too dangerous!"

"Aww, just once, Sakura-chan-"

"_No!_ Do you have any idea how risky it is? You could lose the ability to manipulate Chakra!"

Naruto sighed. "But it's such a strong move! I think Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei would really like it-"

"What's the point of it being so strong if it hurts you more than the enemy?"

"Um, excuse me," Iruka said, clearing his throat, "still here. Sakura, what are you talking about? How did his own technique break his arm?"

Sakura scowled, still glaring down at her troublesome teammate. "It's so much power consolidated into such a small sphere his body can't handle the stress of holding it together. It wrecked the Chakra vessels in his arm."

Naruto pouted. "Well, _aside_ from that, it still kicked that guy Kisame's ass!"

"He was still conscious, baka! What are you even bragging about; it didn't even knock him-"

"Sakura," Kakashi smoothly interceded, "Kisame is known as the Tailless Tailed Beast. I don't think there's one single jutsu that's strong enough to take him down. If this jutsu was strong enough to hurt Naruto himself this badly, I'm sure it's very powerful. It can be like my Mangekyou. Your hidden ace in the hole; its dangerous to use, but practically ensures a win."

Iruka sighed and rolled his eyes. "Encouraging Naruto to use a move that copies the suicidal nature of your Mangekyou; great, Kakashi. Naruto, don't listen to him. If a move hurts you this badly, don't use it. Didn't I teach you anything?"

Sakura nodded firmly. "See, Iruka-sensei agrees with me, Naruto. It's too dangerous to use; you can't do it again!"

"But Kakashi-sensei uses his Mangekyou sometimes! I think it's okay to use it _sometimes_, don't you?"

"No!" Sakura snapped. "His Mangekyou makes him tired! _Your_ jutsu breaks your arm and would eventually destroy your ability to use Chakra!"

Kakashi smiled broadly, watching as his friends and his lover descended into an argument over the merits of Naruto's new jutsu versus the cons. He kept mostly silent himself, listening to the words and let them lull him into a sense of peace. Naruto gestured about and made loud sounds of an explosion, mimicking his jutsu, while Sakura glared at him and tried to convince him that his own health was worth far more than just a little technique. Iruka was shifted fully into teacher mode, shaking his finger at Naruto and lecturing him on the importance of a shinobi's own health, insisting that it did no good for him to kill an enemy only to drop dead himself from self-inflicted injuries.

He smiled again. This was his family, he realized, this was that mysterious, elusive concept he had lacked since he'd walked into his home to find his father dead. Minato had tried to help, tried to become a father figure, but Kakashi had been too wrapped up in trying to hate his dead father to realize he wanted an alive one. And then Obito had died, and Rin, and the guilt had stopped him from letting Minato help until it was too late.

But, here and now, _this_ was his family. Two students that had taught him far more than he had taught them and a man who had loved him before he had even known what love was.

Perhaps Sasuke had torn a gaping hole into this small, tender family, but they had mended without him. And when they day came that Naruto brought his friend back to Konoha, they would be waiting for him. Because what made Konoha Sasuke's home was that his friends and his family were waiting for him there.

Just like Kakashi wasn't finally home again just because he was back in Konoha. All that mattered was that he was with Iruka, Naruto, and Sakura again; as long as those three were alive and okay, wherever they were was fine with him.


End file.
